Ministries, CPSEs Paid Rs 6,800 Crore in Dues Owed to MSMEs in Last 3 Months: Govt

Central ministries and PSUs have cleared payments to the tune of over Rs 6,800 crore owed to micro, small and medium enterprises in the last three months, the government said on Wednesday. It said almost three-fourths of the monthly dues have been paid during the same month by most of the ministries and CPSEs. The pending amounts are expected to be released in the normal course of business and within 45 days.

The MSME ministry, in a statement, said that “more than Rs 6,800 crore have been paid by the Ministries and CPSEs in the last three months alone”. In May, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that MSMEs’ receivables from the government and Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) will be released within 45 days.

The Ministry of MSME said it followed up on this announcement vigorously and took up the matter with the central ministries, CPSEs and state governments. Particularly, very active follow up has been done with the heads of CPSEs, it added.

To make the reporting easy, regular and seamless, a dedicated online format has been made for reporting the monthly payments and pendency, the ministry said. The MSME Development Act of 2006 provides that such dues should be paid within 45 days.

“However, it is seen that MSME suppliers of goods and services do not receive their due payments within stipulated time. Public and private entities do cross this time limit and hence they cause hardship to the MSMEs,” the statement said. The ministry also said close to 4 lakh registrations have already taken place on the Udyam registration portal for MSMEs since the new system was launched in July.