New Delhi, Jan 15: NITI Aayog has released a comprehensive blueprint aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in India through improved scheme implementation and service delivery.
The report, titled ‘Achieving Efficiencies in MSME Sector through Convergence of Schemes’, outlines a strategic roadmap that emphasizes strengthening inter-ministerial coordination and providing comprehensive support in financial, skill, marketing, and innovation aspects for MSMEs.
Key recommendations include the establishment of an AI-driven centralized digital platform that integrates various MSME schemes, compliance, financial services, and market intelligence. This platform aims to furnish real-time support via AI chatbots, dashboards, and mobile access, while drawing from global best practices.
The report also evaluates existing government schemes and identifies opportunities for convergence, highlighting 18 critical schemes tailored to support MSMEs in areas like credit assistance, skill development, marketing, innovation, and infrastructure. It advocates a two-pronged convergence strategy that includes information convergence, which integrates data at central and state levels to enhance governance and decision-making, and process convergence, focusing on harmonizing schemes to minimize redundancies and streamline operations.
Specific integration proposals include merging the Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (SFURTI) with the Micro and Small Enterprises – Cluster Development Programme (MSE-CDP) and restructuring skill initiatives into a three-tier framework that addresses entrepreneurship, technical skills for MSMEs, and training for rural and women artisans. The report also underlines the need to safeguard targeted initiatives such as the National SC/ST Hub and promote MSMEs in the North Eastern Region (NER).
