Reform, liquidity measures for MSMEs get Cabinet nod


New Delhi, Jun 1 (IANS): The Union Cabinet on Monday gave a green signal to the reform and liquidity measures announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman under the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat economic package last month.

Apart from approving the distressed asset fund for MSMEs and the Rs 50,000 crore fund of funds, the Cabinet also widened the definition of MSMEs by allowing more entities into the criteria to avail the benefits.

Further widening the definition of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) decided that manufacturing and service units with turnover of up to Rs 250 crore or investment of up to Rs 50 crore will qualify as medium enterprises.

Addressing the media here post the Cabinet meeting, Union Information & Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said that the decision was taken post suggestions coming in after the government announced broadening of the scope of MSMEs to support more businesses.

Also, the turnover criteria for MSMEs will not include revenue from exports, further providing flexibility to the sector to expand their operations and push overseas sales, he said.

On May 13, Sitharaman hd announced an increase of investment limits for MSMEs. The Centre had raised the medium enterprises' definition to one with investment and machinery to the tune of Rs 20 crore and turnover of Rs 100 crore. This stands further enhanced now after the Cabinet decision.

As per the new changes, businesses with investment of less than Rs 1 crore and turnover of Rs 5 crore would be classified as micro enterprises. Under the existing criteria, a company with investment of less than Rs 25 lakh in the manufacturing sector and less than Rs 10 lakh in the services sector were considered as micro enterprises.

The Cabinet has changed this distinction as well and a unified criterion will be applied for micro enterprises now.

The investment limit of small enterprises has been increased to Rs 10 crore, and the companies would have to have a turnover of less than Rs 50 crore.

Further, the investment limit for medium enterprises has been increased to Rs 20 crore and the turnover limit has been kept at Rs 100 crore, which has now been extended to companies with investment of Rs 50 crore and turnover of up to Rs 250 crore.

Under the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat' package, the government has also done away with the distinction of services and manufacturing MSMEs.

Further, the investment limit for medium enterprises has been increased to Rs 20 crore and the turnover limit has been kept at Rs 100 crore, which has now been extended to companies with investment of Rs 50 crore and turnover of up to Rs 250 crore.

The CCEA also approved a distressed asset fund for MSMEs to facilitate provision of Rs 20,000 crore as subordinate debt as announced under the economic package.

The government's contribution to the distressed asset fund is Rs 4,000 crore through its investment in the Credit Guarantee Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) set up by it along with Sidbi. The CGTMSE, in turn, provides partial credit guarantee to the banks.

Functioning MSMEs, which have become non-performing assets or are stressed, will be eligible for access to the fund.

Under the scheme, the Centre will provide guarantee coverage of up to 85 per cent for loans up to Rs 5 lakh and 75 per cent for loans beyond Rs 5 lakh to MSMEs from financial institutions.

It provides a debt facility of up to 15 per cent of promoter contribution or Rs 75 lakh to the promoters, who, in turn, will infuse the amount in the MSME unit as equity.

According to the government, around 2 lakh MSMEs will be benefited by the move.

Further, the Rs 50,000 crore 'fund of funds' for MSMEs was also cleared by the CCEA which would help these entities get equity.

The fund of funds will be set up with a corpus of Rs 10,000 crore and provide equity funding for MSMEs. It will be operated through a mother fund and a few daughter funds and its structure will help leverage Rs 50,000 crore of funds at the daughter funds level.

It will also help MSMEs get listed on the main board of stock exchanges.

An official statement said that MSMEs are the backbone of the Indian economy and silently operating in different areas across the country, more than 6 crore MSMEs have a crucial role to play in building a stronger and self-reliant India.

These small economic engines have a huge impact on the country's GDP, making a contribution of 29 per cent. They contribute to almost half of exports from the country and over 11 crore people are employed in the MSME sector.

"The MSME Ministry is committed to support the MSMEs, and the people who depend on them. All efforts are being made to encourage MSMEs to take benefit of the initiatives under the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat' package and our other schemes," said the official statement.

Among the other steps taken amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, the government has laid out several schemes to provide immediate relief to the MSME sector, including Rs 3 lakh crore collateral-free automatic loans for MSMEs to meet operational liabilities, buy raw material and restart businesses.

The government has also disallowed global tenders in procurements of up to Rs 200 crore to create more opportunities for domestic players.

  

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Title: Reform, liquidity measures for MSMEs get Cabinet nod



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