Ease of doing business for MSMEs: MSME Minister Narayan Rane on Wednesday inaugurated the Udyam Assist Platform (UAP) to bring informal micro enterprises in the country into the formal fold and enable them for priority sector lending. For the operationalisation of the platform, the ministry also signed a memorandum of understanding with its developing agency Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) during the 19th meeting of the National Board of MSME chaired by Rane. The platform, which is now live, has been referred to as the Formalisation Project by the ministry and was originally proposed by SIDBI to accelerate the registration of informal micro units in the MSME sector.
The platform was launched with the inclusion of 8 lakh informal micro enterprises as formal units, according to the MSME ministry. “These 8 lakh units are among the beneficiaries of the government’s scheme for street vendors PM SVANidhi scheme,” a source aware of the scheme told FE Aspire. The scheme provides for a collateral-free working capital loan of up to Rs 10,000 in order to formalise street vendors.
Comments from SIDBI and MSME Ministry weren’t immediately available for this story.
“The UAP platform will enable informal micro businesses who aren’t registered under GST to get a registration certificate from the government based on their information with banks or non-banking financial companies (NBFCs). The platform will complement the existing Udyam registration portal,” the source added.
Importantly, the UAP certificate will be treated at par with the Udyam registration certificate to register an enterprise and avail priority sector lending benefits, according to an order by the Development Commissioner (DC) Office of the MSME ministry in December 2022, FE Aspire had reported.
“With reference to the launch and implementation of Formalization Project of the Ministry of MSME and SIDBI for bringing the Informal Micro Enterprises (IMEs) into the formal ambit, it is to mention that the certificate issued on the UAP would be treated at par with Udyam Registration Certificate for IMEs for availing of the benefits of Priority Sector Lending (PSL),” the order read.
The platform was earlier discussed in a report by the standing committee on finance headed by Jayant Sinha, Member of Parliament and former Minister of State for Finance in April last year. According to the report, “Apart from making the registered entities eligible for benefits under government schemes, they can also be seamlessly connected to the fast-emerging digital ecosystem including platforms like GeM, TReDS, Invoicemart, other digital marketplaces, etc.” The units can be made KYC and credit ready to allow them access to various options of financial services at various stages of their growth, according to the report.