Toshi Tiwari
According to news reports, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, along with MSME Minister Nitin Gadkari met representatives from the MSME sector. It is reported that the major sectoral concerns highlighted by the MSME representatives were related to the need for broadening of MSMEs’ access to credit, banks reluctance to lend without collateral security, soaring compliance costs, and issues related to GST refunds.
On the other hand, other MSME representatives pitched for the creation of special industrial clusters across India to produce import- substitution items. They also urged the government to offer some incentives for firms operating out of such conclaves. The government has said to have assured the industry representatives that it will look into the demands.
The government also assured the sector to streamline the issues faced in availing GST refunds, process further. The government also showed concerns raised on growing levels of compliance, including its increased cost being incurred by MSMEs, the government vowed to look into all the compliance-related requirements of MSMEs across ministries in order to minimise its ill-effects.
During the meet, the government, besides noting the need for upscaling the GeM (Government e-Market place) portal, also pledged to create more awareness about it so that more MSMEs can benefit from it.
