Comments
Micro and small enterprises got a boost from the Budget with the Government deciding to provide Rs 5,000 crore to Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) for refinancing incremental lending by banks to MSME.
Last year the Government had provided Rs 4,000 crore to SIDBI for the same purpose.
“Micro and small enterprises play a crucial role in furthering the objective of equitable and inclusive growth,” said the Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, while presenting the Budget.
The Minister added that the money given to SIDBI will be required because of a shortfall of banks in their priority sector lending targets.
However, the MSMEs expected more from the Finance Minister. The Federation of Association of Small Industries of India said that the allocation to small enterprises is insufficient. “We appreciate the outlay of Rs 5,000 crore to SIDBI, but it is grossly insufficient. Outlay of Rs 7,000 crore is needed,” said the industry body in a statement.
MSME units also said that instead of increasing the outlay for refinance, SIDBI should give funds directly to the smaller units. Mr Atul Kapasi, President, Gujarat State Small Industries Federation, said this would simplify the procedure of tapping into the funds for these units.
The 26 million MSMEs in the country contribute 8 per cent of the country's GDP, 45 per cent of the manufactured output and 40 per cent of exports.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.