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NEWS ALERTS | Indian MSMEs yet to reap the benefit of Govt. schemes, says a recent report
Indian MSMEs yet to reap the benefit of Govt. schemes, says a recent report

Indian MSMEs yet to reap the benefit of Govt. schemes, says a recent report

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published Published on Oct 13, 2016   modified Modified on Oct 17, 2016

A recently released report shows that only a few enterprises belonging to the labour-intensive Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector could take advantage of the 205 number of public schemes (available in October 2015) of various Ministries or Departments of the Government, as listed at the website www.clusterobservatory.in.
 
(Please click here to access the report on MSMEs and the challenges they face).

Prepared by the Foundation for MSME Clusters (FMC) with support from Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Indian Institute for Corporate Affairs (IICA), Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the report shows that most entrepreneurs belonging to the MSME sector find it extremely difficult to access the various Government departments for obtaining assistance in the areas of their needs.

Based on field-based surveys of 154 entrepreneurs from MSME sector (located in the states of Punjab-36, Andhra Pradesh-41, Rajasthan-41, and West Bengal & Odisha together-36) that were conducted during the period February-July, 2015, it was found that only 69 entrepreneurs (i.e. 44.8 percent of the entire sample) were aware of government schemes in general, whereas the rest 85 entrepreneurs (i.e. 55.2 percent of the entire sample) were unaware of any scheme at all.

Out of the 69 entrepreneurs who were aware of Government schemes for MSMEs, 35 entrepreneurs were aware of just one scheme, 13 entrepreneurs were aware of 2-3 schemes, whereas only 8 entrepreneurs knew about more than 4 Government schemes.

Only 17 respondents were aware of State Government schemes while 108 respondents were aware of Central Government schemes meant for the MSME sector, says the FMC report that was released in April, 2016.

The officials of the District Industries’ Centres and MSME Development Institutes (MSME DIs) were found to be the most important source of information (27.3 percent) regarding public schemes for MSMEs, followed by various industries’ associations (nearly 26 percent) and newspapers (17.5 percent). Radio and television were found to be the least important sources of information pertaining to Government schemes for MSMEs.

Among the entrepreneurs surveyed, the general perception was that the procedures are cumbersome as a result of which it is difficult to access many of the available schemes for MSMEs.

Based on field-based surveys conducted under the study, it was found that the top three perceived support requirements among entrepreneurs from the MSME sector were: a. Access to adequate & timely credit; b. Support for technology up-gradation; and c. Assistance for market linkages.

It was observed during the survey conducted by FMC (in February-July, 2015) that 30 percent of 114 entrepreneurs did not see sustainable behaviour as important for business, whereas 70 percent entrepreneurs expressed that they were willing to adopt appropriate measures so as to address sustainability issues in their respective businesses if knowledge and hand holding is provided.

The insights from the report entitled Promoting Sustainable Development of MSMEs: Policy Recommendations on Public Schemes of Assistance & their Implementation could be considered useful against the backdrop of India’s unemployment rate reaching 5.0 percent (based on Usual Principal Status approach) in 2015-16, up from 3.8 percent in 2011-12, and the cumulative growth in Index of Industrial Production (IIP) for the period April-August 2016 over the corresponding period of the previous year reaching (-) 0.3 percent.

It is worth noting that employment in the MSME sector is estimated to have increased from 805.23 lakh in 2006-07 to 1171.32 lakh in 2014-15, as per the 2015-16 Annual Report of the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. The importance of MSMEs can be gauged from the fact that during 2012-13 the share of manufacturing sector MSMEs and services sector MSMEs in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country were 7.04 percent and 30.5 percent, respectively.

The key findings of the report entitled Promoting Sustainable Development of MSMEs: Policy Recommendations on Public Schemes of Assistance & their Implementation based on field-level surveys (conducted in 2015) are as follows:

• The general awareness about the public schemes of assistance was found to be extremely poor among MSME entrepreneurs.

• The awareness about issues pertaining to energy efficiency, environment and social issues was significantly low among entrepreneurs.

• The outreach awareness about the public schemes for MSMEs was mainly through District Industries Centres and MSME DIs, followed by the Industry associations.

• Sustainability issues were largely looked upon by the entrepreneurs merely as compliance driven and not that can also have a business case.

• The funds available under most of the public schemes of assistance for MSMEs was considered adequate by the surveyed entrepreneurs (who received funds).

• The top three perceived support requirements among entrepreneurs of the MSME sector were: a. Access to adequate & timely credit; b. Support for technology upgradation; and c. Assistance for market linkages.

• The MSMEs found it extremely difficult to access the different Government departments for obtaining assistance in the areas of their needs.

• The current level of engagement on sustainability issues is low but there is willingness among the entrepreneurs to address sustainability issues provided awareness, capacity building and hand-holding assistance is adequately provided.

• After looking at 37 schemes, which have Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) components embedded in them, the report finds that only a few schemes were directly related to SCP component. Many of the schemes, particularly the social ones were well funded but with limited outreach, thus, neglecting the rural and semi-urban areas.

• There are several public schemes of assistance that can be aligned to meet the SCP objectives by incorporating relevant elements.
 
Definition of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in India

The MSMEs in India are defined on the basis of investment in Plant & Machinery and equipments under the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act (MSMED Act), 2006. The present investment limit for MSMEs, according to the 2015-16 Annual Report of the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, is as below:

Manufacturing Enterprises

(a) In micro enterprises, investment in plant and machinery is upto Rs. 25 lakh.
(b) In small enterprises, investment in plant and machinery is between Rs. 25 lakh and Rs. 5 crore.
(c) In medium enterprises, investment in plant and machinery is between Rs. 5 crore and Rs. 10 crore.

Service Enterprises

(a) In micro enterprises, investment in equipments is upto Rs. 10 lakh.
(b) In small enterprises, investment in equipments is between Rs. 10 lakh and Rs. 2 crore.
(c) In medium enterprises, investment in equipments is between Rs. 2 crore and Rs. 5 crore.

About the FMC

According to the website (http://fmc.org.in/) of Foundation for MSME Clusters, it is a pioneering organisation that specializes in the promotion of MSMEs through cluster and value chain led development. Established as a trust in June 2005, FMC has the experience of working directly and indirectly with over 1 lakh MSMEs in nearly 200 clusters spread over 15 countries across the globe.

The mission of FMC is to assist institutions undertake effective and inclusive cluster-based local area development in developing and transition economies.


References

Promoting Sustainable Development of MSMEs: Policy Recommendations on Public Schemes of Assistance & their Implementation, prepared by FMC with support from GRI, GIZ, IICA, SIDBI and the UNIDO, April, 2016, please click here to access

Quick estimates of Index of Industrial Production and Use-based Index for the month of August, 2016 (Base 2004-05=100), released on 10 October 2016, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, please click here to access 

Report on 5th Annual Employment Unemployment Survey 2015-16, Labour Bureau, Chandigarh, please click here to access

Report on 4th Annual Employment Unemployment Survey 2013-14, Labour Bureau, Chandigarh, please click here to access

Report on 3rd Annual Employment Unemployment Survey 2012-13, Labour Bureau, Chandigarh, please click here to access

Report on 2nd Annual Employment Unemployment Survey 2011-12, Labour Bureau, Chandigarh, please click here to access

Report on 1st Annual Employment Unemployment Survey 2009-10, Labour Bureau, Chandigarh, please click here to access

Various reports of Labour Bureau, please click here to access
 
2015-16 Annual Report of the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, please click here to access  

Industrial output contracts in August, The Telegraph, 10 October, 2016, please click here to access
 

Image Courtesy: Himanshu Joshi  
 


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