The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector is among the fast-expanding and dynamic sectors of the Indian economy. There are over 60 million entities falling under the MSME category in the country that contribute about 45 per cent of the total manufacturing output and 30 per cent of the national Gross domestic product (GDP). In the previous budget, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced a slew of measures to help the MSME sector, which suffered huge losses due to the pandemic-induced economic slowdown.

Given the important role the sector plays in driving the Indian economy, the budget allocation for the sector has seen a continuous rise in the past few years. The Budget outlay for the sector increased from Rs 7,572 crores in the financial year 2020-21 to Rs 15,699.65 crores in 2021-22, which further rose to Rs 21,422 crores in 2022-23.

While the MSME sector is recovering from the pandemic’s downturn, here are some