New Delhi, Feb 1 (PTI) Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's eighth Budget provided a shot in the arm to micro, small and medium enterprises, as she proposed a slew of measures including enhancement of investment and turnover limits for their classification, increase in credit guarantee cover for micro and small enterprises and customised credit cards for micro entities registered on the Udyam portal.

As per the Budget announcement, any firm with an investment of up to Rs 2.5 crore and turnover under Rs 10 crore are classified as "micro". A company with investment of up to Rs 25 crore and turnover of up to Rs 100 crore are classified as "small" and those with investment of up to Rs 125 crore and turnover under Rs 500 crore will be classified as "medium".

The Finance Minister described MSMEs as the second power engine for development, as they constitute 45 per cent of the country's exports.

To help MSMEs achieve higher efficiencies of scale, technological upgradation and better access to capital, the investment and turnover limits for classification of all MSMEs were enhanced to 2.5 and 2 times, respectively.

Further, steps to enhance credit availability with guarantee cover have also been announced. This will give them the confidence to grow and generate employment for youth, the minister said.

The Finance Minister also announced the launch of a new scheme for 5 lakh women, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes first-time entrepreneurs. This will provide term loans of up to Rs 2 crore during the next five years.

To improve access to credit, the FM also proposed enhancement in the credit guarantee cover for Micro and Small Enterprises, from Rs 5 crore to 10 crore, leading to additional credit of Rs 1.5 lakh crore in the next five years.

For startups, credit guarantee cover has been increased from Rs 10 crore to 20 crore, with the guarantee fee being moderated to 1 per cent for loans in 27 focus sectors important for Atmanirbhar Bharat; and for well-run exporter MSMEs, for term loans of up to Rs 20 crore.

"We will introduce customized Credit Cards with a Rs 5 lakh limit for micro enterprises registered on Udyam portal. In the first year, 10 lakh such cards will be issued," Sitharaman said.

Sitharaman announced that the government will also implement a scheme to make India a global hub for toys representing the 'Made in India' brand. She added that the government will set up a National Manufacturing Mission covering small, medium and large industries for furthering "Make in India".

India Inc gave a thumbs up to the interventions announced for MSMEs, expressing confidence that these would boost job creation.

"Among the many highlights, one of the other ones is about employment generation and we see multiple interventions in MSMEs and employment intensive sectors which would translate into additional job creation," CII President Sanjiv Puri said.

Sajjan Jindal, Chairman and Managing Director, JSW Group said the boost to MSMEs, by increasing investment and turnover limits and expanding credit guarantees, is a very important step towards increasing the contribution of the manufacturing sector in our economy.

Anish Shah, Group CEO & MD, Mahindra Group said the theme of inclusive development, with a strong emphasis on MSMEs, agriculture, and skilling, aims to create a resilient ecosystem that will drive economic growth and help achieve the Viksit Bharat Goals by 2047. PTI RSN DRR

MSME classification expansion linked to increased credit guarantees and targeted lending, plus customised credit access for registered micro enterprises. The Budget raises investment and turnover thresholds for micro, small and medium enterprises to broaden MSME classification, alongside measures to enhance credit availability including increased credit guarantee cover and moderated guarantee fees for focused sectors; it also introduces targeted term loan support for first time women and disadvantaged entrepreneurs, customised credit cards for registered micro enterprises, and institutional initiatives such as a National Manufacturing Mission and a scheme to promote domestic toy manufacturing.