The National Confederation of Small Industry organised a seminar on restructuring of sick Micro Medium and Small Enterprise (MSME) units here recently.
Speaking on the sidelines of the event, CPI leader Pandian said that in the past, MSMEs had recorded higher levels of exports than corporate companies. “Corporate firms retrench workers. MSMEs, on the other hand, create employment opportunities,” he noted.
Earlier, G K Basha, senior vice president, Industrial Estate Manufacturers Association, Guindy, said MSMEs in India account for 45 per cent of total exports while employing about 50 per cent of the workforce in the country. Tamil Nadu comprises 7.5 lakh MSME units, the highest in India. “But, stringent measures in the name of Surface Act, effected by banks have left MSMEs in a quandary,” he said and added that the seminar was primarily focused on this issue.
According to him, a company that defaults on loan repayment continuously for three months is declared as a Non Performing Asset (NPA). “Presently, MSMEs all over India are facing various problems like power shortage and delayed payments by large scale industries,” he added. In such a scenario, the conditions enforced by the banks were making the functioning of MSMEs tougher. Basha sought banks to ease theirnorms, as it was done before 1995 for the survival of MSMEs.