MSME sector's revenue Lileky To Exceed Pre-Covid Level In 2022-23 By 25%: RBI

The revenue for the micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) sector is projected to exceed the pre-Covid level in 2022-23 by 25 per cent, said the Reserve Bank of India in a report.

The MSME segment, which contributes about 29 per cent of India’s GDP and employs over 11 crore workers, recorded a modest recovery, RBI said in its annual report.

With 99.8 per cent of MSMEs being unregistered, they account for a sizeable share of the unorganised sector output and employment. 

"Various policy measures were introduced to support the sector from the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the emergency credit line guarantee scheme (ECLGS), which aimed at meeting their liquidity needs for sustaining business operations," it added.

As per the assessment of the Credit Information Bureau (India) or CIBIL, the scheme assisted MSME borrowers in managing their businesses better with lower non-performing assets (NPAs) for borrowers availing of the facility as compared to borrowers who were eligible but did not avail of it.

It also mentioned that increasing the flow of credit to the MSMEs has been a policy priority of the RBI and the Centre. 

On a YoY basis, the outstanding credit to the MSMEs by SCBs increased by 14.2 per cent during 2022-23 (as of end-December 2022) as compared with 11.7 per cent in the corresponding period of the previous year.