Special Commissioner of Industries, Government of NCT Delhi, Rajiv Kale Wednesday underlined the need to define and elaborate rules and policies governing micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) as these are sketchy at present. He said that the time had come to move from regulatory legislation to a progressive mindset.

Speaking at a FICCI-Confederation of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (CMSME) seminar on 'MSME Prosperity', organised with a view to empowering Indian MSMEs and build their competitiveness, Kale proposed that FICCI should take a lead and help in resolving the prevailing issues regarding definition of terms such as supplier and delay and non-payment to MSMEs by large corporates.

On ease of doing business, Kale said that it was very difficult for the prospective entrepreneurs to enter the business. He suggested that FICCI should walk with the prospective entrepreneurs and experience the journey with them and understand what impacts and hinders their progress.

Kale also urged that the State Level Advisory Board to expand its scope and focus on a wide range of issues. "Also, there is a need to introduce the provision of constituting sub-committees under the MSMED Act," he added.

Jasbir Singh, Zonal General Manager-NCR, National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC), highlighted the initiatives undertaken by NSIC. One of the most important initiatives was that as a nodal agency, NSIC operates a Single Point Registration Scheme under the Government Purchase Programme, wherein the registered Small Scale Industries (SSI) units get purchase preference in government purchase programme, exemption from payment of Earnest Money Deposit and other such benefits.

Sanjay Bhatia, President, FICCI-CMSME and MD, Hindustan Tin Works Pvt Ltd., said that it was imperative to work towards removing the bottlenecks inhibiting the growth of MSMEs so as to enable the sector to respond effectively to challenges. Hence, providing a favourable ecosystem was a necessary part of enabling growth of MSME sector. This in turn required reliable partners who could provide these enterprises with requisite help in scaling up their business and making them competitive for entry into the global value chain.

In his concluding remarks R. Narayan, Vice-President, FICCI CMSME and Founder & CEO, Power2 SME, said that the role of the MSME sector as a development partner of Government in India faces fundamental challenges, including insufficient infrastructure and inadequate access to power and financing. Furthermore, the sector was largely dominated by informal sector. It was imperative for government-led sector development programmes to give a high priority to the development of MSMEs, and promote entrepreneurship and ownership of enterprises, especially among first generation entrepreneurs.