More than 66 lakh MSMEs had registered on the Udyam portal and the initiative has improved the ease of doing business for MSMEs, pointed out The Economic Survey 2021-22 that was tabled in Parliament on Monday by the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
The Union Ministry of MSME introduced Udyam registration with effect from July 1, 2020. The Udyam Registration is based on the composite criteria of investment and turnover for the classification of new and existing MSMEs.
As of January 17, 2022, about 66,34,006 enterprises have registered on the Udyam portal, out of which 62,79,858 were micro, 3,19,793 small and 34,355 medium enterprises. Further, among the new measures, the retail and wholesale trades were included as MSMEs and they are allowed to be registered on the portal.
However, the benefits to retail and wholesale trade MSMEs are to be restricted to priority sector lending only. In this regard, now, street vendors can also register as retail traders on the portal and avail the benefit of priority sector lending, it said.
Digital and paperless
The registration process is fully online, digital, paperless and is based on self-declaration. No documents or proof are required to be uploaded for registering as an MSME. Aadhaar and PAN are required for registration and details on investment and turnover of enterprises are taken automatically from relevant government databases.
The new registration process has boosted the ease of doing business for MSMEs by reducing transaction time and costs, said the Survey.
Champions portal
The Survey also stated that the CHAMPIONS portal (www.champion.gov.in), an ICT-based technology system, is also aimed at making the smaller units big by helping and handholding them.
A network of control rooms is created in a Hub & Spoke Model where the hub is situated in the Ministry of MSME, New Delhi whereas 68 spokes are located across the country in various offices and institutions of Ministry. As of January 16, 2022, 42,304 grievances have been received, out of which 41,965 (99.1 per cent) grievances have been replied.
It said MSMEs contributed significantly to the economic and social development of the country by fostering entrepreneurship and generating employment opportunities.
The relative importance of MSMEs can be gauged from the fact that the share of MSME GVA in total GVA (current prices) for 2019-20 was 33.08 per cent, it added.