Work collectively for the development of MSME sector: Minister

Minister of State (Independent Charge) of MSME, Dinsha J. Patel addressing the 7th Meeting of the NBMSME.

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Saurabh Gupta | 08 Apr, 2010
While asking state governments and associations to work collectively for the development of the MSME sector, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, Dinsha Patel during his address to the 7th Meeting of the National Board for MSME (NBMSME) in the capital said that the government cannot succeed without the support and cooperation of state governments and associations.

The minister said, "The Government is committed to the growth of MSME sector. While we are making efforts to promote and develop this sector, we cannot succeed without the support and cooperation of the state governments and our associations."

"Despite the remarkable progress made by the MSME sector in the recent years, the sector is gripping with many problems, which can only be solved at the state level, like problem of inadequate power, roads, water and other infrastructure bottlenecks."

While addressing the session, he said that the report of the Task Force on MSMEs set up under the Chairmanship of the Principal Secretary, T. K. Nair, was presented to the Prime Minister. The report provides a roadmap for the development and promotion of the MSMEs.

The Report makes detailed recommendations in the areas of credit, marketing, labour, rehabilitation and exit policy, infrastructure, technology and skill development, taxation etc. In addition, it suggests setting up of appropriate legal and regulatory structures to create a conducive environment for entrepreneurship.

The Minister emphasized that the recommendations would be implemented in a time bound manner with an upper limit of six months. He said that we are dependent on our partners - State Governments and MSME Associations in this endeavour.

The main agenda of the meeting was discussion on the report of the Task Force. Madhav Lal, Additional Secretary and Development Commissioner gave a presentation on the recommendation of the Task Force and roadmap for implementation.

The Board Members deliberated on the recommendations of the Task Force in detail and gave valuable suggestions which included, conduct of market surveys to identify rural demand in view of cash flow to rural areas on account of Social Sector Developmental Programmes and Bank Loan Waiver Scheme, creation of conducive business environment and establishment of consultative mechanism with Ministry of MSME for Goods & Services related issues.

Arun Maira, Member Planning Commission, spoke on India's war on eradication of poverty and generation of employment where the role of MSME sector is crucial. He especially mentioned about the role of institutional reforms at implementation level.

He has also underlined the minister's statement to work collectively. He said, "We have to do this together as the minister has said."

V.K. Sharma, Executive Director, RBI informed that once the new base rate system for lending comes into effect, it would considerably reduce the rate of interest for lending especially to MSMEs.

Dinesh Rai, Secretary, MSME while summing up the discussion, mentioned that ensuring the flow of credit is crucial for the healthy growth of MSME Sector and reassured the Ministry's commitment in implementing the recommendation of Task Force in a time bound manner.

Various State Ministers, Members of Parliament, Secretaries of Central Ministries, Chairman of the Board of Directors of National Banks, Representatives of MSME Associations and Trade Unions from all over the country and senior officials participated in the day-long deliberations.