Credit and finance for MSMEs: According to the data available on the SC/ST hub portal, Rs 1,301.93 crore worth procurement was made from 8,828 SC/ST-owned MSEs in FY23.
Credit and finance for MSMEs: The MSME ministry’s scheme to support scheduled caste and scheduled tribe entrepreneurs to fulfill the mandate of 4 per cent public procurement from central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) — National Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Hub (NSSH) has benefitted over 1 lakh entrepreneurs. According to the data tweeted by the MSME minister Narayan Rane on Saturday, 1,06,854 SC/ST entrepreneurs were supported under NSSH as on March 31, 2023.
“MSME is playing an important role in the economy of the nation. New enterprises are getting boost from the National SC-ST Hub Scheme, and socio-economic empowerment of SC/ST communities is taking place. More than 1 lakh SC-ST entrepreneurs benefitted,” Rane tweeted.
The scheme was launched in October 2016 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and is implemented by MSME Ministry’s National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC). Under the government’s public procurement policy, a minimum of 25 per cent of the total annual value of goods and services bought from CPSEs should come from micro and small enterprises. This includes the sub-target of a minimum of 4 per cent procurement from enterprises owned by SC/ST entrepreneurs and 3 per cent from women entrepreneurs.
According to the data available on the SC/ST hub portal, Rs 1,301.93 crore worth procurement was made from 8,828 SC/ST-owned MSEs in FY23. NSSH was allocated Rs 90 crores as per the revised estimates in FY23 while the budget estimates for FY24 stood at Rs 100 crores.
In addition to NSSH, the government also runs a Special Credit Linked Capital Subsidy Scheme (SCLCSS) that provides 25 per cent capital subsidy to the SC/ST-owned MSEs on institutional finance for procurement of plant and machinery/equipment without any sector-specific restrictions.
Till December 2022, a subsidy of Rs 15.24 crore was released under SCLCSS in respect of 98 claim applications of SC/ST MSEs. Similarly, reimbursement of Rs. 15.03 lakh in respect of 48 SC/ST MSEs was made under different reimbursement subsidy schemes, according to the MSME ministry’s FY23 annual report.
Moreover, the government’s credit guarantee scheme for collateral-free credit up to Rs 5 crore CGTMSE had included SC/ST entrepreneurs as well in December last year along with women entrepreneurs, MSEs certified with the Zero Defect and Zero Effect (ZED) scheme, and MSEs based in aspirational districts in the country.