New Delhi, March 26: With more than 6 crore MSMEs already registered under the Udyam and Udyam Assist (UA) portals, the government hopes to take the figure to 9 crore by 2029 as it is targeting to formalise all the MSMEs in the country, a senior official said on Wednesday.

Addressing an Assocham event here, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Mercy Epao said that the MSME sector contributes more than 30 per cent of GDP, 36 per cent of manufacturing output and also more than 45 per cent of exports.

"The sector is the second largest employer in the country with more than 26 crore employment opportunities and generates more than 5 lakh crore GST contributions," she pointed out. The Joint Secretary said the government is working towards its vision of sustainable development of globally competitive micro, small and medium enterprises as an engine of growth for the Indian economy.

The various schemes, programs and initiatives are designed to address the challenges faced by the MSME sector. The government is also focused on uplifting women, SC/ST and persons with disabilities through special schemes and campaigns for them, the official added. She highlighted that bank credit to MSMEs has been growing faster than credit dispersal to large enterprises.

As per the economic survey 24-25, credit to MSMEs registered a year-on-year growth of 13 per cent, whereas it stood at 6.1 per cent for large enterprises. Epao highlighted that the government has infused an additional Rs 9,000 crore for the revamped credit guarantee scheme for MSMEs to enable the flow of an additional credit of Rs 2 lakh crore to the sector.

Guarantee fee has been reduced to as low as 0.37 per annum and guarantee ceiling under digital footprint model has been hiked to Rs 10 crore. Further, guarantee coverage for women-owned enterprises has been enhanced from the existing 85 per cent to 90 per cent, vis-a-vis 75 per cent coverage for others. The criteria for MSMEs have been revised to Rs 2.5 crore in investment and turnover up to 10 crore to extend the coverage of benefits, she added.

(IANS)

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