New Delhi: The Centre is implementing a series of focused initiatives to strengthen the growth of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) by simplifying regulatory requirements, improving ease of doing business, and expanding access to affordable credit, according to an official statement released on Sunday.
As part of these efforts, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), which enforces Quality Control Orders (QCOs) issued by various ministries, has introduced special relaxations and exemptions for MSMEs. These measures are aimed at ensuring that compliance with QCOs does not disrupt domestic manufacturing or impede business operations.
Key relief measures include an additional time extension of three to six months for Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) to comply with standards, as well as exemptions for imports by domestic manufacturers when producing export-oriented goods. MSMEs have also been granted exemptions for importing up to 200 units for research and development purposes. In addition, legacy stock manufactured or imported prior to the implementation of QCOs is allowed to be cleared within six months from the effective date.
The BIS has further extended financial and technical support to MSMEs, including fee concessions ranging from 10 to 80 per cent on annual minimum marking fees. An additional 10 per cent concession is available for enterprises located in the northeastern region and for MSMEs owned by women entrepreneurs.
To ease compliance costs, MSME units are no longer required to maintain in-house testing laboratories. Instead, they may utilise BIS-recognised external laboratories, NABL-accredited labs, or shared facilities such as cluster-based laboratories or labs belonging to other manufacturing units. Moreover, the ‘Levels of Control’ under the Scheme of Inspection and Testing (SIT) have been made advisory rather than mandatory, allowing manufacturers the flexibility to define their own control units, batches, or lots and inform the BIS accordingly.
Enhancing transparency, the BIS has made product certification guidelines publicly available on its website and is issuing product-specific manuals to guide MSMEs on conformity assessment under various Indian Standards.
On the credit front, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has taken several steps to improve monetary policy transmission and ensure smoother credit flow to MSMEs. Banks have been advised to link MSME loans to an external benchmark, with the interest rate reset period reduced to three months. Existing borrowers have also been given the option to switch to the external benchmark-linked interest rate regime on mutually agreed terms.
Additionally, the RBI has strengthened credit availability through schemes such as the Mutual Credit Guarantee Scheme for MSMEs. Under this initiative, lenders—including Scheduled Commercial Banks, All India Financial Institutions, and NBFCs—receive credit guarantee cover for term loans of up to Rs 100 crore extended to MSMEs for projects involving the purchase of equipment and machinery.
To further ease access to finance, Scheduled Commercial Banks have been directed not to insist on collateral security for loans up to Rs 10 lakh extended to MSE units, enabling smaller enterprises to secure funding more easily and scale up their operations.
With inputs from IANS