New Delhi: Union Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Minister Nitin Gadkari is hopeful that the blow to the MSME sector due to the lockdown will be recovered soon. Gadkari said in the video conferencing that this sector will reduce dependence on imports from China and accelerate domestic manufacturing with the support of the government.
“The government is working on a war footing to address issues in the sector such as lack of working capital and access to cheap loans,” Gadkari said, adding that lakhs of units are expected to suffer huge losses in existing conditions. The MSME Minister said that committees set up by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) are constantly monitoring and assessing the situation at the ground level.
The PMO committee will make suggestions as to when the lockdown can be lifted for normal operations in some areas. Gadkari said that about 8 to 10 lakh units will be reorganized in the coming days. He said that the owners of these units will have to take full care of their workers after returning to work and ‘sanitize’ the workplace. Gadkari said that the Finance Committee has approved a corpus of Rs 10,000 crore.
