Thursday, August 21, 2014: The government finds it difficult to frame meaningful policies for the MSME sector as a large number of unregistered Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises have come up in India. This sector contributes around 8 per cent of the country’s GDP, 45 per cent of the manufacturing output and 40 per cent of the exports. This sector also provides the largest share of employment, following agriculture.
Madhav Lal, secretary, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) said at a Ficci event, “A large chunk of MSME sector is unregistered and remains segregated. This makes it difficult for the government to frame meaningful policies to cater to this sector with diverse verticals.” Ajay Shankar, member secretary of the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council, said, “There is a need to create an ecosystem where entry, growth and exit from the MSME sector are incentivised.”
He added that labour or workers in the Indian industrial sector are not considered as asset or partners in growth and it’s the biggest weakness in the Indian industry. Almost same technology and machines are used across the globe but the difference lies in the skill and quality of a worker. Hence it’s quite necessary to increase the productivity of Indian labour class and also improve their quality of work. Some initiatives on the government’s part include amendment to factories Act, reform of labour law and also encouragement to e-governance. All these initiatives are are expected to boost up the MSME sector, Shankar added.
