Retail and wholesale trade will also benefit from priority sector lending under existing Reserve Bank of India rules.
Minister of MSMEs, Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari announced the revised guidelines for MSMEs on Friday.
Gadkari then tweeted that the government is committed to strengthening MSMEs and making them engines of economic growth.
“The revised guidelines will benefit 2.5 crore retailers and wholesalers. Retail and wholesale trade has been excluded from the scope of MSMEs. Now, under the revised guidelines, retail and wholesale will also benefit from priority sector loans as per RBI guidelines,” Gadkari noted.
Large retailers and wholesale businesses will not be covered as they will not meet the eligibility criteria for MSMEs.
Retail and wholesale traders will also be allowed to register on the Udyam portal for MSMEs.
The Confederation of All Indian Traders (CAIT) previously demanded the reinstatement of MSME status withdrawn in June 2017 from over 80 million retail and wholesale traders. “Traders will be able to obtain the necessary financing from banks and financial institutions under the framework of loans to the priority sector”. said CAIT.
