New Delhi: A CII poll showed delayed payments of Rs 1,819 crore to about 450 of its MSME member companies. This was disclosed by industry body CII here Monday.
Public sector or government departments including state departments owe MSMEs Rs 1,709 crore. The private sector also owes about Rs 110 crore to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), the survey revealed.
The sample CII poll showed that about 32 per cent of the outstanding to MSMEs have been delayed for more than two years. Out of it about Rs 895 crore are stuck in disputes. These need to be resolved soon to save the MSMEs from solvency, CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee said.
Of the delayed payments amount, manufacturing contracts account for Rs 153 crore and services contracts account for Rs 723 crore. Multiple sectors account for Rs 930 crore.
The CII suggested measures to alleviate the issue of pending payments to (MSMEs) including tax refunds and incentives.
The CII said the government should monitor payment delays by CPSUs to MSMEs closely through a portal for complaints. It should ensure necessary funds are provided and utilised for this purpose. The CII pointed out that all PSUs and government departments must be mandated to register themselves on TReDS platform. TReDS is an institutional mechanism set up in order to facilitate the trade receivable financing of MSMEs from corporate buyers.
In addition to overcome the delays in payments to MSMEs due to disputes all pending GST refunds should be cleared immediately, the chamber recommended. It said all incentives due to MSMEs under various central and state schemes should be released immediately.
Banks should provide additional reconstruction term loans to MSMEs impacted by the lockdown, with the Government of India offering a guarantee up to 20 per cent of the default, CII said.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced May 13 that CPSEs and the government would clear payments of MSMEs in 45 days to improve their liquidity.
PTI