In a clear signal that small businesses are back at the heart of India’s growth strategy, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday unveiled an ambitious, three-pronged plan to turn micro, small and medium enterprises into what she called “Champion SMEs”.
The package, announced during the Budget speech, combines equity support, easier liquidity and professional handholding — an acknowledgement that credit alone is no longer enough to scale India’s vast MSME base.
At the centre of the proposal is a ₹10,000 crore SME Growth Fund, aimed at providing equity support to promising enterprises selected on defined performance criteria. The government will also top up the Self-Reliant India Fund by ₹2,000 crore, ensuring continued access to risk capital for micro enterprises that often struggle to attract formal investors.
Expanding Liquidity Reach
Liquidity remains a major bottleneck, and the Budget seeks to dramatically expand the reach of the Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS), through which over ₹7 lakh crore has already flowed to MSMEs.
Sitharaman announced that all purchases by central public sector enterprises from MSMEs will now be mandatorily settled through TReDS, setting a benchmark for private corporates.
To further deepen the platform, invoice discounting on TReDS will receive credit guarantee support, government procurement portal GeM will be linked to it, and TReDS receivables will be enabled as asset-backed securities to create a secondary market.
Professional Compliance Support
Beyond finance, the Budget also addresses compliance stress. Professional bodies such as ICAI, ICSI and ICMAI will help train a network of “Corporate Mitras” in Tier-II and Tier-III towns, offering MSMEs affordable, hands-on support to navigate regulatory requirements.
Together, the measures mark one of the most comprehensive MSME-focused pushes in recent budgets, blending capital, credit and capability.