Mumbai: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday launched a series of new initiatives aimed at strengthening India’s Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) ecosystem during the SIDBI Foundation Day programme held in Mumbai.
The initiatives introduced by Sitharaman are focused on improving credit access, modernising rural enterprises, promoting technology adoption, and enhancing financing support for micro, small, and medium enterprises across the country.
Among the major announcements was the launch of the SIDBI-RRB Co-Lending Platform, which seeks to improve MSME credit penetration in semi-urban and rural regions. The platform combines SIDBI’s digital and MSME financing capabilities with the grassroots reach of Regional Rural Banks to facilitate seamless credit delivery, Sitharaman’s office said in a series of posts on X.
Sitharaman also launched the Modernization of Rural Enterprises Programme, a cluster-based intervention designed to support non-farm rural enterprises through credit and additional assistance for technology upgrades, quality improvement, and market access. The programme is expected to benefit units involved in activities such as jaggery production, pottery, flour milling, oil extraction, and brass craftsmanship.
Another key initiative unveiled at the event was the Micro Credit Card Scheme for Micro Enterprises. Under the scheme, Udyam-registered micro enterprises will be able to access revolving credit of up to Rs 5 lakh without mandatory primary security, backed by a 75% guarantee cover. The scheme aims to support small manufacturers, shopkeepers, and micro entrepreneurs requiring working capital support.
The minister also launched the SIDBI MSME Exchange – Machinery Portal, a digital platform integrating machinery discovery with institutional financing support to help MSMEs accelerate capital investment and technology adoption.
Highlighting the importance of the MSME sector, Sitharaman said MSMEs contribute nearly 35% of manufacturing output, 48% of exports, and around 31% of India’s GDP. She noted that the sector includes more than 7.47 crore entrepreneurs and provides employment to over 32 crore people across the country.
Referring to the Union Cabinet’s decision earlier this year to approve an additional equity support of Rs 5,000 crore to Small Industries Development Bank of India, Sitharaman said the move would help the institution strengthen its balance sheet and add 25 lakh new MSME beneficiaries by 2028.
She said the government’s focus is to ensure that SIDBI can raise lower-cost funds and pass on the benefits to entrepreneurs through wider, cheaper, and more accessible credit.
Sitharaman also underlined the need for flexible financing models tailored to different business cycles instead of adopting a uniform repayment structure for all enterprises.
“Standard products cannot serve non-standard businesses,” she said, while highlighting the challenges faced by sectors such as agriculture-linked enterprises, tourism businesses, exporters, and women entrepreneurs.
