Bengaluru, Nov 9
Indian micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are providing 21 crore jobs while making a major contribution to the economy and exports across sectors, and no MSME will be left behind by the government, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said here on Saturday.
Addressing the 'National MSME Cluster Outreach Programme', the Finance Minister said that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, no state will be left behind and the government would attend to every state.
"Also, no MSME will be left behind. I want to assure that all the MSMEs will be provided adequate support by the government," she told the gathering.
To further empower millions of MSMEs, the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) will open 25 branches in the MSME clusters across the country this year, gradually moving into every such cluster.
"The cost of loans that small businesses will take from SIDBI directly will be far less. SIDBI knows small businesses and their requirements well so this will be an apt opportunity for the MSMEs to grow at scale," FM Sitharaman told the gathering.
There are currently 5 crore MSMEs registered with the government's Udyam portal, providing crores of jobs.
The MSME sector has continued to play a pivotal role in driving economic growth, employment, and entrepreneurship across the nation. In comparison to a total of 1.06 crore MSME registrations in 2023, the number has now increased to more than 5.07 crore in 2024. Karnataka alone has 35 lakh MSMEs which provide about 1.65 crore jobs, according to the Finance Minister.
"There is not even one MSME in this country which was left untouched by our banks during the pandemic, and given the much-needed support they required during those tough times," she said.
In the Union Budget, various announcements have been made specifically for MSMEs like an introduction of a special credit guarantee corpus to help MSMEs; a new credit guarantee scheme in the manufacturing sector to facilitate term loans for MSMEs and public sector banks to develop new credit assessment model for MSMEs wherein banks will do credit assessment themselves.
Earlier in the day, FM Sitharaman chaired a meeting to review the performance of 10 regional rural banks (RRBs) of the Southern Region here. The RRBs performance review covers the states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, and the UT of Puducherry.