2023 was a critical year for MSMEs recovering from the Covid-induced challenges in business survival and growth. The year saw a number of initiatives undertaken by the government to support small businesses and enhance their ease of doing business other than growth in positive impact created by several existing schemes by the MSME ministry. Below is the review released by the MSME ministry of key accomplishments during the year:
Udyam Registration: MSMEs registering under the government’s Udyam registration during the year increased from 1.31 crore as of December 31, 2022, with further 88.89 lakh registrations to 2.19 crore. The ministry, in association with SIDBI, had launched the Udyam Assist Platform (UAP) on January 11, 2023, to bring Informal Micro Enterprises (IMEs) not registered under the GST ambit into the formal fold. Till December 31, 2023, around 1.11 crore IMEs had been onboarded on UAP.
PM Vishwakarma scheme: The government launched the PM Vishwakarma scheme to improve the quality as well as the reach of products and services of artisans and craftspeople on September 17, 2023. A central sector scheme, PM Vishwakarma is fully funded by the government with an initial outlay of Rs 13,000 crore for an initial period of five years from 2023-24 to 2027-28. As of December 30, 2023, 48.80 lakh enrolments were made under PM Vishwakarma and 1.32 lakh applications were registered.
Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), a credit-linked subsidy scheme for providing employment opportunities through the establishment of micro-enterprises in the non-farm sector offers subsidies to beneficiaries availing loans from banks. During the period from January 2023 to November 2023, 85,228 units were assisted with the disbursement of Rs 3,116.78 crore subsidy, generating a total estimated employment for around 6.80 lakh persons.
Credit Guarantee for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) introduced in 2000 to facilitate credit access to MSEs in the country was revamped in 2023 to enhance the ceiling limit of guarantee coverage from Rs 2 crore to Rs 5 crore, reduce the annual guarantee fees from 0.75 per cent to 0.37 per cent and increase the threshold limit from Rs 5 Lakh to Rs 10 lakh for waiver of legal action. For the period from January 2023 to November 2023, a total of 12.50 lakh guarantees were approved, amounting to Rs 1.46 lakh crore.
SRI Fund aims to offer growth capital to eligible MSMEs. From January 1, 2023, to November 30, 2023, 14 daughter funds have been empanelled with NSIC Venture Capital Fund Limited (NVCFL) – a Mother Fund, by way of investing more than Rs 3,658 crore and assisting 242 potential MSEs.
Public Procurement Policy for Micro and Small Enterprises which mandates 25 per cent annual procurement from MSEs by central ministries/departments/central public sector enterprises (CPSEs), including 4 per cent from MSEs owned by SC/ST and 3 per cent from MSEs owned by women entrepreneurs. A total of 358 items are reserved for exclusive procurement from MSEs.
Vis-a-vis the minimum procurement target, the participating CPSEs and departments procured a total amount of Rs 37,501.25 crore (34.82 per cent) from MSEs during the year 2023-24 (as of December 31, 2023), from which 130 MSEs benefitted.
Contribution by MSME Technology Centres of the Ministry in Chandrayaan-3 and Aditya L1 Mission:
India’s third lunar mission, Chandrayaan-3 launched on July 14, 2023, had a contribution of the Central Tool Room & Training Centre (CTTC) based in Bhubaneswar which manufactured and supplied 437 types of precision components (around 54,000 components) for the mission.
Moreover, the Institute for Design of Electrical Measuring Instruments (IDEMI), Mumbai manufactured and supplied the guiding device used in the turbocharger assembly of the Chandrayaan-3.
On the other hand, for India’s first solar mission, Aditya L1, launched on September 2, 2023, CTTC Bhubaneswar made its contribution by manufacturing different types of precision components like regulator, flow control valves, gyroscope, temperature sensor and navigation parts.
National SC-ST Hub (NSSH), which aims to fulfil the 4 per cent procurement mandate by the CPSEs from SC-ST MSEs, saw a 15-fold increase in public procurement from Rs 99.37 crore in 2015-16 to Rs 1,543 crore in 2022-23. From January to December 2023, the procurement value was Rs 1,328 crore.