Clear dues of MSMEs, Gadkari tells industry

New Delhi, April 14

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday asked India Inc to clear huge outstanding payments to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) at the earliest in order to ease the distress in the sector and inject liquidity into market.

In a discussion with senior industry members of Ficci via video conferencing, the MSME minister exhorted the industry to clear pending dues owed by them to the units.

“I would like to request you, major industries also have huge outstanding dues of MSMEs. We were earlier considering framing a law entailing stringent rules regarding such payments. However, now is not the right time for this. We don’t wish to go down that road,” the minister said.

The government’s endeavour was to protect MSMEs, which contribute 29% to the country’s GDP (gross domestic product), from coronavirus-induced crisis.

“We have decided to raise (turnover) limits for MSMEs. An order to this effect should hopefully be out in 8-10 days, which will naturally enhance their coverage,” Gadkari said.

The Union Cabinet had in 2018 approved changes in the basis of classifying micro, small and medium enterprises from ‘investment in plant & machinery/equipment’ to ‘annual turnover’. — PTI 

Classification of MSMEs to be amended

Under the new definition, a micro enterprise will be defined as a unit where the annual turnover does not exceed Rs5 crore; a small enterprise will be defined as a unit where the annual turnover is more than Rs5 crore but does not exceed Rs75 crore; and a medium enterprise will be defined as a unit where the annual turnover is more than Rs75 crore but does not exceed Rs250 crore.