By Varad Pande and Joseph Sebastian
Image credit: ET Rise
For over 110 million people in India involved in the MSME sector, the last 12 months have been a veritable nightmare. The pandemic-induced disruption in demand, credit availability and labour supply has been a pincer movement that has devastated the financial health of many MSMEs. Surveys estimate that 82% of MSMEs were negatively impacted by the first wave of the pandemic, and 25-40% of them could shut shop. The second wave will probably make these numbers worse.
But the problems of India's MSMEs predate the pandemic. Systemic bottlenecks and red tape, lack of affordable credit, inefficient supply chains and weak access to markets have stymied the sector for decades. The current crisis has shined a much-needed spotlight on these issues. And so we believe it is opportune to revisit solutions to transform the business environment for India's MSMEs and present some concrete proposals.
To know more, read the full article here.
