Rajasthan chief minister congratulates trade representatives for successful campaign to include retail trade in MSME definition

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Jul 6, 2021

Rajasthan’s chief minister Ashok Gehlot has praised trade representatives in the retail and wholesale sectors for their successful campaign to have their industries included in the central government’s new Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise (MSME) definition. 

 
“I congratulate the trade representatives for forcing the central government to reintroduce the categorisation of retail and wholesale trade as MSME through their relentless campaign,” said Gehlot on July 3, the Press Trust of India reported. 
 
The NDA government had removed retail and wholesale traders from the MSME segment in 2017. This affected around 2.5 crore traders in the sectors as they were no longer eligible to schemes and regulations specifically for MSMEs. 

“Retail and wholesale trade enterprises were brought under the MSME segment by UPA for extending a supporting hand through MSME Development Act, 2006 but it was highly unfortunate that NDA government had removed the provision in 2017 which resulted in hardship for the sector,” said Gehlot. 
 
Several benefits for businesses classed as MSMEs, which will now be available to retail and wholesale traders, include collateral-free bank loans, subsidies on patent registrations, fewer electricity bills, protection against delayed payments, and reimbursement of ISO certification charges, according to growth acceleration platform Msmex.