In the meeting, the MSME sector sought differential interest rates for the sector
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman along with micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday met the representatives of the MSME sector as part of the second round of consultations with the stakeholders to address sector-specific issues in the economy.
In the meeting, the MSME sector sought differential interest rates for the sector.
They also brought up the issue of delayed payments, problems in accessing capital and delay in sanction of loans by banks.
The finance minister suggested having dedicated days for dealing with the MSME loan proposals at the banks, according to Mukesh Mohan Gupta, president of Chamber of Indian MSMEs.
The industry also demanded that there should be a dedicated tribunal for the MSME sector.
"Payment of MSMEs is stuck with public sector units (PSUs) for about six months to one year," said Gupta.
"We also sought changes in declaration of non-performing assets of MSMEs," said Sanjay Bhatia, president, FICCI Confederation of MSME.
On the issue of the government portal psbloansin59minutes taking more than 59 minutes to process loans, the industry was assured that the ministry will look into the matter.
The finance minister is holding a series of meetings with various sectors so that steps could be taken to improve the state of the economy amid concerns of a slowdown.
Gadkari said the MSME sector creates 11.3 crore jobs and that the government is giving the highest priority to solve problems faced by them.
The finance minister will next meet the representatives of the automobile sector, followed by industry associations, stakeholders of the financial market and the real estate sector. On Monday, the FM held a meeting with the top executives of the private and public sector banks in the national capital to take stock of the credit flow to the key sectors of the economy.
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