Government will encourage MSMEs to contribute more towards exports: Nitin Gadkari

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari expressed optimism that the government's plan to launch Bharatcraft portal, an e-commerce marketing platform, has the potential to achieve revenues of around 10 lakh crore rupees in the 2-3 years. 

He was speaking at 200th listing of an MSME company 'Wonder Fibromats' on NSE EMERGE in Mumbai yesterday. Mr Gadkari said that the Bharatcraft portal, which will be on the lines of Alibaba and Amazon, will provide a platform for MSMEs to market and sell their products and in turn boost the sector. 

He said that the government will encourage MSMEs to contribute more towards exports, how they could contribute to overall economic growth and also enhance employment potential. He emphasized the need for the MSMEs to come in the mainstream and take advantage of the NSE platform for raising



funds.

He added that the MSME sector has the potential to generate additional employment of 5 crores in the next five years. The government has set a target to increase the contribution of MSMEs in the manufacturing sector to 50 per cent in the next five years. 

Mr Gadkari further said that payments have always been the issue for the MSMEs as the Government and public sectors delay their payments. He informed that a committee has been set up to study this aspect and they expect the report in the next few days. 

He also informed that the government is planning to enable legislation framework, which would help the MSME sector get their payments faster, within 45 days of the bills being due. He said any further delay in payments would lead to legal implications.