CPSUs urged to up public procurement from MSMEs
In a review meeting on implementation of Public Procurement Policy that was attended by representatives from 44 CPSUs, MSME Minister Kalraj Mishra revealed that 38 Central PSUs (CPSUs) have achieved the target of 20% public procurement from MSMEs in the just concluded financial year.
He urged CPSUs’ to take a proactive action to achieve a target of 20% annual procurement from MSMEs including 4% from MSMEs owned by SC/STs.
Mishra informed that a new hub set up under the Ministry will also provide avenues for SC/ST entrepreneurs under the Policy, by encouraging them to register their products and facilitating their participation in vendor development programmes organized by CPSUs.
What is noteworthy to be mentioned here is that as per Ministry data, while SC entrepreneurs constitute to 7.83% of the total enterprises in the MSME sector in 2014-15, 41.94% was the contribution of entrepreneurs from Other Backward Classes.
Highlighting the importance of the policy, Mishra also informed that his Ministry had recently (March 10, 2016) released a circular to promote start-ups. The policy allows CPSUs to relax the norms of ‘prior experience and prior turnover’ for those MSMEs willing to deliver goods in line with the prescribed technical & quality specifications.
The Ministry also has in place ‘Udyog Aadhar Memorandum’, an online registration platform to improve ease of doing business for MSMEs.
Delivering on the same note, Minister of State for MSMEs, Giriraj Singh, said that organising vendor development programmes and entering into rate contracts with MSMEs will enhance public procurement.
He also highlighted the need for development of critical components and maintenance of spares of high tech machines and equipments by CPSUs, to reduce import dependence.
March 18, 2016 | 06:00pm IST
to success.