Ease of Doing Business for MSMEs: Around 500 MSMEs have been granted the  Sustainable Zero Defect Zero Effect (ZED) Certification out of which 300 certifications were issued in Karnataka only, said Gopinath Rao, Deputy Director, MSME Development and Facilitation Office (MSME-DFO), Bangalore on Wednesday as per a report by the Knowledge and News Network (KNN). 

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Rao was speaking at a programme organised by the MSME association Karnataka Small Scale Industries Association (KASSIA) on “On-boarding ZED Certification and Spot Registration Programme”. 

K. N. Narasimhamurthy, President, KASSIA informed the gathering that Zero Defect, Zero Effect can enable the micro and small scale industries to leapfrog.

MSEs have to move towards zero defect in their products under the Atma Nirbhar Bharat and zero effect on the environment in order to sustain as repeatedly highlighted by the State and Central Governments, he said. 

Further, Akkadas, Director, MSME-DFO, Bengaluru while inaugurating the awareness programme said that the Government has provided slab-wise subsidies under the ZED scheme for micro enterprises. “The subsidy offered (for micro enterprises) is as much as 80 per cent, for small enterprises it is 60 per cent and for medium enterprises it is 50 per cent,” he mentioned. 

The women-owned businessess can avail an extra 5 per cent subsidy in the category of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. 

The ZED Certification scheme also has five rating levels that depend on the quality of the manufacturing of goods – Bronze, Silver, Gold, Diamond and Platinum, said the director adding that rating depends on the quality, the higher the rating the better the quality. 

The ZED Certification Scheme to enhance the productivity, performance and environmental consciousness of the MSMEs was launched by the MSME Ministry in April this year. 

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Under the scheme, the assessment of an MSME carried out by Quality Council of India QCI-accredited rating agencies was based on a minimum of 30 out of 50 parameters. Out of these parameters 20 were mandatory including quality management, workplace safety, timely delivery of goods, environment management, waste management, corporate social responsibility, human resource management, etc.