Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will launch a data bank to gather information about micro, small and medium enterprises on Thursday besides Online Finance Facilitation Centres to provide collective funding options for MSMEs.

“Through the data bank, we shall carry out a census of MSMEs online for the first time. The move to go online will help save money as the previous census conducted in 2008 cost ₹50 crore, whereas this one is expected to be completed in just around ₹1 crore,” MSME Secretary KK Jalan told PTI.

“Moreover, this time, we will also be capturing data of MSME Associations. The census process will start formally tomorrow with the launch of the data bank,” he added.

Armed with the data, the MSME Ministry will be able to plan development activities and incentive programmes in an improved manner.

The government had recently notified new rules for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to furnish information in the prescribed format.

According to the MSME Development (Furnishing of Information) Rules, 2016, MSMEs need to furnish basic details to the Centre online in the data bank maintained by it on www.msmedatabank.in.

6 facilitation centres

“Six Online Finance Facilitation Centres in Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Guwahati, Lucknow, Peenia and Delhi will be opened tomorrow. We plan to unveil six more in the near future,” Jalan said.

The centres will operate as a one-stop shop by providing collective financing options for MSMEs sourced from major financial institutions.

It will also aid the enterprises with documentation work and help them prepare bankable project proposals.

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