Over Rs 3,300 crore allocated to MSME sector: Government

Government has earmaked over Rs 3,300 crore this fiscal, the highest allocation in the last three financial years, to develop the MSME sector and is implementing a special programme to develop its infrastructure.

Noting that Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) accounted for over 37 per cent of the GDP and over 42 per cent of total exports, MSME Minister Kalraj Mishra said the sector was facing constraints in accessing credit facilities.

"For implementing various schemes for the development of MSMEs, government has allocated Rs 2,700 crore, Rs 2,835 crore, Rs 2,977 crore and Rs 3,327 crore for the 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15, respectively," he said while replying to questions during Question Hour.

He said the government was implementing a special programme to promote and develop infrastructure to improve productivity and competitiveness of micro, small and medium enterprises in the country.

"It is generally believed that a large number of micro, small and medium enterprises are using outdated technology because of lack of sufficient finance, lack of access to modern technology, absence of in-house research and development etc.," Mishra said.

Market development assistance, interest subsidy certificate scheme and credit-linked capital subsidy scheme, are among the programmes being implemented for MSMEs sector, he said.

"The government has proposed to revise the investment limit to classify MSME, considering the increase in the price index and cost of input, which are the indicators of inflation and have invited comments from stakeholders in this regard," Mishra said.

The Minister said the government was also implementing Micro and Small Enterprises Cluster Development Programme and preparing diagnostic study report and detailed project report, besides taking steps like soft intervention, hard intervention, common facility centres and infrastructure development.

For upgradation of technology, the Ministry was implementing Credit Linked Capital Subsidy Scheme, under which 15 per cent upfront (subject to maximum of Rs 15 lakh) is given to micro and small enterprises for upgradation of technology, Mishra said.

He said that in the manufacturing segment, micro enterprises are allowed to invest up to Rs 25 lakh in plant and machinery, while it was Rs 25 lakh to Rs 5 crore for small entities and Rs 5-10 crore for medium enterprises.

With regard to services space, micro enterprises could invest up to Rs 10 lakh, small enterprises Rs 10 lakh to Rs 2 crore and medium enterprises Rs 2-5 crore. These limits pertain to investments in equipment, he said.