Application of Innovative and Cutting Edge Technologies for timely delivery of financial services to MSMEs will be crucial for India’s Inclusive Growth: Secretary, DFS, Ministry of Finance at CII
“Government of India continues to create conducive business environment enabling the MSMEs to contribute to the economy. Many initiatives have been taken to simplify the regulatory process, enhancing digital public infrastructure and constantly introducing business friendly measures. Major steps have been taken for easing access to credit by MSMEs such as specialized credit guarantee schemes like CGTMSE, ECLGS, Mudra loans, and launch of account aggregator framework for meeting the working capital requirement” said Dr Vivek Joshi, Secretary, Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance at the Annual Business Summit 2024 of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), with the theme ‘Co-Creating the Future Responsibly: Role of Business’ at New Delhi today.
He also said “application of innovative and cutting-edge technology for lending to MSME sector through initiatives like account aggregator platforms are other areas of focus for MSMEs. These initiatives are important components of India’s inclusive growth which ensures timely delivery of financial services to the public in general and MSME in particular.”
Dr Joshi highlighted that for steering the Indian SMEs towards sustained growth and competitiveness aligning with India’s goal to become a developed nation by 2047, it is imperative to work on the critical areas of Increasing per capita income, improvement in infrastructure, poverty alleviation, improving literacy rates and spending on access to education and healthcare, greater industrialization, and job creation.
He also mentioned that the share of MSMEs in total advances by scheduled commercial banks has been strictly maintained in the range of 17-18% since FY20 and the share of micro and small enterprises in this stand at 80%.
Mr Sunil Kant Munjal, Chairman, Hero Enterprise said that the 90 days’ timeline for NPA classification should be enhanced, given the cyclical and seasonal nature of businesses especially in the MSME sector. He also emphasized to consider impact on environment and sustainability as key parameters for taking any future business decisions.
Mr M Ponnuswami, Founder & Chairman, Pon Pure Chemical India Pvt Ltd. & Co-Chairman, CII National MSME Council; Ms Chetna Sinha, Founder & Chairperson, Mann Deshi Foundation; Mr Ravi Aurora, Senior Vice President, Global Public Policy & Government Affairs, Mastercard; Mr Ravi Raghavan, Managing Director, Bharat Fritz Werner Ltd (BFW) and Mr Umesh Revankar, Executive Vice Chairman, Shriram Finance were the other Industry experts who addressed the session with SME focus during the CII Annual Business Summit 2024.
17 May 2024
New Delhi