New Delhi, Jan 7 (IANS) Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) want the government to ensure timely payment of their dues and bills from government deparments and large corporates.

In its budget rThe government has sought comments from stakeholders on the proposed National Technology Mission that aims to converge efforts towards technology upgradation of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and ease access to technology.  

UK Sinha-led RBI Expert Committee on MSMEs has recommended that a technology mission should be launched by the MSME ministry for convergence of the efforts of various stakeholders for technology upgradation by the sector. The ministry has prepared a draft discussion paper on 'Promoting Technology Adoption by MSMEs - Mission Document' and has requested all stakeholders to give their comments or views by January 25.

RBI had announced setting up the expert committee at the December 2018 monetary policy announcement. The committee’s composition related terms of reference had also been finalised by the end of December 2018. At that time, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das had said, though the credit demand is growing at a healthy 14 percent, it is not broad-based. The 

RBI earlier said the committee will study the impact of the recent economic reforms on the sector and identify the structural problems affecting its growth.

The other members of the committee include Ram Mohan Mishra, development commissioner for MSME; Pankaj Jain, joint secretary at the department of financial services; PK Gupta, SBI managing director; Anup Bagchi, ICICI Bank executive director; Abhiman Das, IIM Ahmedabad professor; Sharad Sharma, Ispirit Foundation founder; and Bindu Ananth, Dvara Trust chairperson.

 The National Technology Mission is a major initiative of the Development Commissioner, the Ministry of MSME. The mission will focus on activities modelled around seven different pillars including emerging technology, human capital, access to finance, infrastructure, market place, policy and governance, and knowledge creation. 

"The mission aims to converge the efforts of various stakeholders for technology upgradation of MSMEs across the country who have been hitherto operating in isolation. The focus will not just be on technology incubation and adoption but also on providing short term and long-term training programmes, consultancy and facility support to MSMEs," the MSME ministry said.

Published On : 07-01-2020

Source : SMB Story