NEW DELHI: Niti Aayog, government’s policy think tank, recommended the introduction of a dedicated financing scheme to allow medium enterprises to avail loans at concessional rates. It also backed a credit card for such units with a Rs 5 crore limit for emergency needs.The report, released on Monday, stated that the scheme should be under the ministry of MSME and provide loans of up to a certain percentage of gross revenue, depending on the sector of the unit, such as manufacturing or services, capped at Rs 25 crore, with a maximum of Rs 5 crore per request.The medium enterprise credit card will allow enterprises to manage urgent expenses, such as payroll, inventory procurement, and equipment repairs, in case the loan disbursement is longer than usual. “Ensure that credit card interest rates align with market rates while allowing a grace period for repayment,” according to the report on “Designing Policy for Medium Enterprises,” prepared by Niti Aayog and the Administrative Staff College of India.The report also called for the alignment of skilling programmes with enterprise-specific needs by region and sector, and the integration of medium enterprise-centric modules into existing entrepreneurship and skill development programmes. MSMEs contribute approximately 29% to the country’s GDP, account for 40% of exports, and employ over 60% of the workforce. About 97% of registered MSMEs are micro enterprises, 2.7% are small, and only 0.3% are medium enterprises. However, this 0.3% of medium enterprises contributes nearly 40% of MSME exports. The report identifies medium enterprises as strategic actors in India’s transition towards self-reliance and global industrial competitiveness.
