MSME Status To Be Granted To Retail And Wholesale

Government guidelines were revised to include retail and wholesale trade under the category of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) as part of a significant move to support the traders in the country.

In a series of tweets, Union MSME Minister Nitin Gadkari noted that retail and wholesale trade was outside the scope of MSMEs: “Under the revised guidelines, MSME has issued order to include retail and wholesale trade as MSME and extending to them the benefit of priority sector lending under RBI guidelines.”

“Under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi, we are committed to strengthening MSME and making them engines of economic growth. Retail and wholesale traders will benefit from the revised guidelines.”
Retailers and wholesalers will now be able to register on the Udyam portal with the revised guidelines.

In a statement in response to the decision, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said that the country’s traders are in a jubilant mood because of their inclusion under the definition of MSME.

CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said the government’s decision would benefit more than eight crore small businesses of the country.

Resurgent India Managing Director Jyoti Prakash Gadia described the move as a path-breaking decision, which will have a positive and lasting impact on the economy.

“This will enable them to become a major part of the mainstream economy facilitated by the availability of credit from banks on a priority basis at cheaper rates,” he said.