Wednesday, September 24, 2014: MSME Minister Kalraj Mishra shared his personal views at a press meet that Prime Minster Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ campaign will not impact the MSME industry in India. The campaign has initiated efforts on the government’s part to make India a manufacturing hub, and in the process, several MNCs and Indian private players have been invited to take part in the campaign.
Mishra was speaking at a press conference where he came up with his ministry’s 100-day report card. The minister said that the Indian economy depends on the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) at a large extent and will play a pivotal role in making India a successful manufacturing hub. He also said that MNCs have been invited for making investments in industrial parks. He was replying to a question about government plans on inviting 3,000 foreign companies across 30 countries and 25 sectors to participate in the ‘Make in India’ campaign and its impact on the MSME sector. The campaign will be launched on Thursday.
Kalraj Mishra has also announced that the bdget promise, to make the Rs 1,00,000 million venture capital fund functional for MSMEs, is also expected to be met in October. He added that the ministry is collaborating on this issue with the Department of Financial Services closely. A committee was proposed but it’s not been created till now. But work is in progress to set up the committee soon. According to a senior official from the MSME ministry, both the tenure of the funds and their nature are yet to be decided and he said the fund can arrive as soft loans, credit guarantee etc.
As MSMEs face challenges in accessing credit facilities, Mishra accused banks as they have been offering loans at much higher interest rates of 10-12 per cent. He said now the PM will directly handle this credit issues and talks are also on with Finance and Commerce ministries regarding the same.
