World MSME Day 2023: Prominent Government Initiatives that have helped MSMEs
The United Nations General Assembly established World MSME Day in 2017 to increase awareness of the significance of micro, small, and medium-sized firms in fostering inclusive and sustainable development globally. It is commemorated on June 27 every year. MSMEs are essential to the global economy because they provide a lot of jobs, fight poverty, and promote economic progress.
They are regarded as the foundation of many economies, especially those in emerging nations. Despite their importance, MSMEs encounter numerous difficulties in surviving and expanding. The government has already established a number of programs to aid startup enterprises in an attempt to overcome these issues. Let’s take a look at some of these initiatives.
Government Initiatives for MSMEs
PM Employment Generation Program
The Prime Minister Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), an initiative of the federal government that was started in 2008, is carried out by the Ministry of MSME. PMEGP is a credit-linked guarantee program that offers ambitious business owners loans up to Rs 50 lakh for the opening of new manufacturing units and up to Rs 20 lakh for new service units. With a cost of Rs 13,554.42 crore, the program was further extended over the 15th Finance Commission Cycle from 2021–2022 to 2025–2026.
Udyam portal
The Udyam platform, which enables MSMEs to register their businesses with the government, was introduced in July 2020 in an effort to bring more MSMEs into the formal fold. The site, which is run by the MSME Ministry, offers free and paperless registration options. Additionally, the Udyam is connected to the Central Board of Direct Taxes and the Goods and Services Tax Network, facilitating the easy transfer of data across organizations.
Credit Guarantee Scheme for Micro and Small Enterprises
The Credit Guarantee Scheme for Micro and Small Enterprises is a ground-breaking government program that has enabled first-generation entrepreneurs with collateral-free loans for more than 20 years by offering a guarantee cover of up to 75 percent for loans totaling Rs 5 crores. According to information submitted by Bhanu Pratap Verma, Minister of State for the MSME Ministry, in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha in March of this year, the plan provided guarantee cover of more than Rs 1 lakh crore in FY 2022–23 as opposed to Rs 56,172 crores in FY 2021–22.
Mudra Yojana
The MUDRA scheme, which was introduced in 2015, aims to assist small business owners by offering non-collateral loans of up to Rs 10 lakh to non-corporate, non-farming small and micro firms. Mudra loans can be used for an existing business as well as for starting a new one. According to the MUDRA platform, 6,23,10,598 loans of Rs 4,56,537,98 in total were sanctioned, with Rs 450423,66 in total disbursed in 2022–23. 97,91,387 loans of Rs 75,392 crore have been approved so far in FY24.
Zed scheme
In order to increase the competitiveness of Indian MSMEs in the manufacturing sector, the Zed scheme was created in 2016. The program is designed to promote ZED-based practices on "Zero Defect, Zero Effect," concentrating on producing high-quality products sustainably. MSMEs will be assessed and certified as part of the program.
