FM opens National Expo of Small, Khadi, Village & Coir industries

05 Oct '06

2 min read

Shri P.Chidambaram, Union Finance Minister (FM) inaugurated a four-day 'National Expo of Small, Khadi, Village and Coir Industries' at Ashok Hotel. Shri Mahabir Prasad, Minister of Small Scale Industries and Agro and Rural Industries presided over the function.

Inaugurating the Expo, Shri Chidambaram said that the micro and small enterprises were a vibrant and dynamic part of the national economy contributing about 40 per cent of the country's industrial output and providing gainful employment to the people. He said the UPA Government initiated a number of steps to boost this sector.

The first is the enactment of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development (MSMED) Act, 2006 which for the first time provided a dedicated statutory framework to facilitate the promotion and development of MSMEs and enhancement of their competitiveness.

The second is the Khadi and Village Industries Commission Act. This Act has also been comprehensively amended introducing several new features to facilitate professionalism in the operations of the Commission.

And the third step that the UPA Government took was to launch the Performance and Credit Rating Scheme for small industries. Banks need to follow a transparent rating system with cost of credit being linked to credit rating of the enterprise.

To help the Banks in this context, the Government has launched this scheme. The Government also encouraged the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) to promote the Small and Medium Enterprises Rating Agency of India Ltd.

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