Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman reviews situation about the payment to MSMEs

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman reviewed the situation about the payment to the MSMEs and expressed satisfaction and appreciation on the work done by the Ministry of MSME. As part of the Prime Minister's vision, the Finance Minister had announced the Atmanirbhar Bharat package in May this year. It was stated that the MSME dues should be paid in 45 days.

Since May, regular follow-up and concerted efforts have been made by the Government, particularly by the MSME Ministry for payment of these dues. Particular focus was placed on Central Public Sector Enterprises and the Central Government Agencies for payment of dues to MSMEs. As a result, over Rs 21,000 crore of MSME dues have been paid in the past 7 months since May by the Central Government Agencies and CPSEs.

The highest level of procurement was achieved in October of over Rs 5,100 crore and payment of over Rs 4,100 crore. Going by the reports received in first 10 days for November, this level of performance is expected to be surpassed as procurement of about Rs 4,700 crore and payment of about Rs 4,000 crore have already been reported.

Report for seven months (May-November, 2020) indicates:

• Procurement by Central Government Agencies and CPSEs from MSMEs is on the rise and in fact, it has gone up by almost 2.5 times since May 2020;
• Payments to MSMEs have also gone up proportionately;
• The pendency of payment has gone down in terms of percentage against procurement value;
• The report for October had shown maximum transactions since May;
• However, reports in December show a better trend in November as per just 10 days of reporting.