Two years after proposing a new procurement policy for products of micro, small and medium enterprises, the MSME ministry is still working hard to convince other ministries and government departments to prefer the cash-starved sector rather than big companies for their purchases.
?We are trying to work out a new purchase policy for procurement of MSME products by the government and trying to convince major buyers like the defence and the railways of the need to adhere to such a step,? MSME secretary Dinesh Rai said at a Ficci seminar.
The idea of increasing the government procurement from MSMEs from the present 1% to at least 20% was originally mooted in 2007.
Since then, the ministry?s representatives are engaged in talks with their counterparts in other ministries and officials of public sector enterprises.
At present, the government?s procurement policy lists 358 products. But being voluntary in nature, ministries and PSEs choose big corporates that have the wherewithal to offer goods at lower price.
?The new scheme is based on the one in operation in the US, as per which 30% of government purchases is in reserved category,? Rai had said in March this year.