Credit and Finance for MSMEs: Around 4.5 lakh micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) units in India’s most populous state of Uttar Pradesh have raised credit so far through the central government’s Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) launched last year post Covid, said state’s MSME Minister Sidharth Nath Singh on Thursday. Speaking on Day 1 of Financial Express Online’s inaugural SME Artha event, Singh said “Approximately 4.5 lakh units in UP took advantage of emergency credit guarantee scheme and were able to revive their units. It helped them recover from the working capital or credit squeeze they had.”
With nearly 90 lakh MSMEs, UP had the largest number of estimated small businesses with a 14.20 per cent share of 6.33 crore MSMEs in the country, as per the MSME Ministry 2020-21 annual report. Including UP, a significant part of the country’s MSME landscape was severely impacted due to Covid and following lockdown restrictions last year that led to challenges in production, labour movement, supply chain disruption, and more.
“During Covid last year and this year, we had decided not to shut our industrial units. We arranged for (movement) of their workers with mobility passes. We also ensured that they have the raw material supply by making sure vehicles carrying raw materials pass unhindered…We also waived fixed electricity charges,” added Singh who is also the minister for Investment & Export, NRI, Textile, Handloom & Sericulture, Khadi & Gramodyog, and Vice Chairman, Invest U.P.
The state was ranked second in the Ease of Doing Business annual rankings released in September last year. Moreover, UP secured sixth position in Logistics Ease Across Different States (LEADS) ranking this year from 13th rank in 2019. The ranking launched by the Commerce Ministry back in 2018 measures the ease in logistics activities in states. The tally was topped by Gujarat, Haryana, and Punjab.
