MSME | Impact of COVID-19 on Small Businesses

The Government has taken a number of recent initiatives under the Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan to mitigate the negative impact of Covid-19 on small businesses in the country and to improve their financial and market access. Some of them are:

1. Rs. 20,000 crore Subordinate Debt for stressed MSMEs.
2. Rs.3 lakh crores Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) for Businesses, including MSMEs (which has subsequently been increased to Rs. 5 lakh crore, as announced in Budget 2022-23).
3. Rs. 50,000 crore equity infusion through MSME Self-Reliant India Fund.
4. New Revised criteria of classification of MSMEs.
5. New Registration of MSMEs through ‘Udyam Registration’ for Ease of Doing Business.
6. No global tenders for procurement up to Rs. 200 crores.

An Online Portal, “Champions”, has been launched on 01.06.2020 by Hon’ble Prime Minister. This covers many aspects of e-governance including redressal of grievances and handholding of MSMEs. In order to support the MSEs during COVID-19 pandemic, a special component of “Virtual Trade Fairs” has been introduced under the existing Procurement & Marketing Support (PMS) scheme of this Ministry to enhance market access of MSEs.

From 2^nd July, 2021, the government has included Retail and Wholesale Traders as MSMEs. They are allowed to be registered on Udyam Registration Portal and avail benefits of Priority Sector Lending.