Industry Welcomes Retail Sector's Inclusion in Govt's MSME Periphery

Late last week, when the Union Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Mr Nitin Gadkariannounced the historic inclusion of Retail and wholesale services in the Govt's MSME definition, industry representatives came forward in support of this announcement.

Industry forums called this announcement a landmark decision that is much awaited by the retailers and traders.

Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, Retailers Association of India (RAI), thanked the MSME Minister for giving a patient ear to them to understand the plight of MSME retailers and delivering on the assurance he gave us during our virtual meet last year.

''This landmark decision will have a structural impact for the sector, helping it get formalised by giving better finance options for businesses that want to get structured. It will give retail MSMEs the support they need to survive, revive and thrive,” he added.

On the other hand, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said this move will benefit more than eight crore small businesses of the country.

''CAIT has been raising this issue for more than a year. Traders now will be able to avail requisite finances from the banks and financial institutions under Priority Sector Lending,” B C Bhartia, National President and Praveen Khandelwal, Secretary-General said in a statement.

They could now also leverage several other Government schemes for the MSMEs, they said.

Bhartia, Khandelwal and Sumit Agarwal, National Secretary of the CAIT jointly said that today is a very big day for the business community of the Country which is providing employment to about 40 crore people and generating an annual turnover of Rs.115 lakh crore.

The trio also said that the COVID pandemic affected traders will now be able to restore their businesses by obtaining necessary finances from the banks which were earlier denied by the Banks.

''This step of the Government will prove to be a milestone step in reviving not only the economy but even the most vibrant retail trade of India,'' they added.

Bhartia, speaking further on the same, asserted that the traders of the country are in a jubilation mood today because of their inclusion under the definition of MSME. We offer our deep gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi & MSME Minister Nitin Gadkari for taking such a big step for the business community of the country.

''Nevertheless, the traders of India shall remain grateful to Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal who became a staunch advocate for the trading community and played a role of catalyst in such a fabulous decision," he added.