Govt looks to shop more from MSMEs; seeks suggestions on items to be reserved for purchase
Ease of doing business for MSMEs: “MSMEs are the backbone of the Indian Economy! Let’s help their growth. Give your suggestions on the list of items that can be reserved for exclusive purchase from MSMEs under the Public Procurement Policy,” MoS MSME Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma tweeted.
In a communication on October 27, the DC office had shared the revised draft list of goods to be procured from MSEs, increasing the count from earlier 358 to 469 with the addition of services also.
Ease of doing business for MSMEs: The MSME ministry is seemingly exploring to further enhancing public procurement of goods and services from MSMEs. A month after the MSME ministry came out with a revised draft list of goods to be procured exclusively from micro and small enterprises and introduced services also to it, the minister of state for MSMEs Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma on Tuesday also sought suggestions via MyGov.in portal on items to be reserved for purchase from MSMEs.
“MSMEs are the backbone of the Indian Economy! Let’s help their growth. Give your suggestions on the list of items that can be reserved for exclusive purchase from MSMEs under the Public Procurement Policy,” Verma tweeted.
MSMEs are the backbone of the Indian Economy! Let's help their growth📈
Give your suggestions on the list of items that can be reserved for exclusive purchase from MSMEs under the Public Procurement Policy.
Email to the Development Commissioner (DC) Officer, MSME Ministry didn’t elicit an immediate reply for this story.
In a communication on October 27, the DC office had shared the revised draft list of goods to be procured from MSEs, increasing the count from earlier 358 to 469 with the addition of services also. Suggestions were invited to the draft list before the end of November. “The existing list required a relook to find out the relevance in the present-day context of technological change, growth of small and medium enterprises. Various stakeholders had recommended that services be also included in the list,” the communication read.
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The 16 services added to the draft list were architectural and engineering consultancy, operation of canteens, housekeeping services, tailoring, tour operator services, waste collection services, interior decorator services, renting and leasing of motor vehicles, furniture and home furnishing repair, hiring of taxies/school buses and buses for the transport of employees, etc.
“Given that MSMEs are adopting technology for growth and are capable of serving more customers, it makes sense for the government to include services in the list. By doing this, it would give assured market to service MSMEs as well,” a source aware of the development had told FE Aspire on anonymity. The final list is expected to be out “very soon but there is no deadline to it.”
Under public procurement policy, government departments and CPSEs are mandated to buy 25 per cent of their annual value of goods or services from MSEs including 4 per cent from SC-ST entrepreneurs and 3 per cent from women entrepreneurs. As of November 29 in the current fiscal, CPSEs had procured goods worth Rs 12,787 crore from MSEs from 32,499 MSEs, according to the MSME ministry’s dashboard data.
