Credit facility of Rs 2.41 lakh crore given for revival of MSME sector: Govt

The government has taken steps to revive MSMEs affected during the Covid-19 and provided Rs 2.41 lakh crore as credit guarantee assistance to the sector impacted by the pandemic, MSME Minister Narayan Rane told the Rajya Sabha.

He informed the house that the GST revenue is now rising by two per cent every year since COVID-19, and the industry is now growing normally again.

Responding to supplementaries during question hour, the MSME minister Narayan Rane said the MSME sector, which witnessed a decline and closure of many units due to COVID-19, has been on an upward trajectory due to government credit schemes.

He said exports have also grown by 45.83 per cent since the pandemic.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi started a credit guarantee scheme of Rs five lakh crore, of which Rs 2,41,000 crore spent on the MSMEs sector for providing credit to them.

"Our GST, which was Rs 5 lakh crore in 2019-20, reduced to 4.7 lakh crore in 2020-21 and has now touched 5.3 lakh crore in 2021-22 and is growing by 2 per cent every year," the minister said.

He said during Corona times, several industries were shut down and workers also lost their jobs, but they are now again coming up and doing good.

Some accounts were also turned into NPAs, he said, adding that the Prime Minister gave Rs 5 lakh crore as an emergency credit loan facility, out of which Rs 2.41 lakh crore for industries to help provide credit to them.

"I feel all those industries have again revived, who suffered during corona times," he added.

In his written response to the starred question, the minister said, "As per the latest information received from the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation, share of MSME Gross Value Added (GVA) in all India GDP during the last 3 years and share of MSME GVA in All India GDP (in percentage) in 2019-20 is 30.5 per cent, and 27.2 per cent in 2020-21 and in 2021-22, it is 29.1 per cent.

"The share of MSME GVA in all India GDP increased from 27.2 per cent in 2020-21 to 29.1 per cent in 2021-22.

"As per the information culled out from the Data Dissemination Portal of Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCIS), the share of export of MSME specified products in all India exports for the year 2022-23 was 43.59 per cent, and this share has increased to 45.83 per cent in 2023-24 (up to November 2023)," the minister said.

He also said that the government has taken various initiatives under the Make in India Programme, promotion of Ease of Doing Business, and improved availability of credit. Moreover, this ministry is implementing the International Cooperation (IC) Scheme, which facilitates the participation of MSMEs in international exhibitions, trade fairs, and buyer-seller meets in foreign countries by reimbursing costs incurred on airfare, stall charges, advertisement, publicity etc.

"The scheme provides opportunities to MSMEs to continuously update themselves to meet the challenges emerging out of changes in technology, changes in demand, emergence of new markets etc.

Further, under the new component of the IC Scheme namely Capacity Building of First Time Exporters (CBFTE) launched in June 2022, reimbursement is provided to the first time Micro & Small exporters on exports shipments, whose IEC code/registration is not more than 3 years for costs incurred on Registration-cum-Membership Certification (RCMC) with EPCs, Export Insurance Premium and Testing & Quality Certification for exports. These interventions under the IC Scheme assist the exporters in the MSME sector to increase their access to international markets.

The Ministry of MSME has established 59 Export Facilitation Centers (EFCs) across the country to provide requisite mentoring and handholding support to Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs), he said.

The ministry is also engaged in regular inter-ministerial collaborations for strengthening and facilitating the MSMEs at the grassroots level to make them more competitive and accelerate their growth in the global markets, the minister said.