The Andhra Pradesh (A.P.) Department of Industries and Commerce (DoIC) is in the process of streamlining the public procurement policy for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to give them the platform for consolidating their business and eventually scaling it up.
The expertise of reputed private agencies like CRISIL is being availed for drawing a roadmap to make the purchase of various products and services from MSMEs mandatory for all government departments and PSUs.
The Government of India (GoI) has made it compulsory for all ministries and departments to procure at least 20% of their annual value of goods and services from the MSMEs as per its public procurement policy.
The A.P. Government is making efforts to leverage the GoI’s policy to strengthen the local MSME supplier base stronger in the face of stiff competition from their larger peers, said a top DoIC official, who pointed out that procurement from the MSMEs has been going only on a piecemeal basis.
Credit flow
The State government has also attached priority to improving the credit flow for MSMEs and enabling them to tap the growing potential for e-Commerce.
Besides, the DoIC has planned to rope in the Quality Council of India for creating an ecosystem for the MSMEs to match the quality standards which hold the key to their survival in the online marketplace.
Slew of incentives
Meanwhile, the DoIC has offered a slew of incentives to prospective entrepreneurs in the textiles sector with the focus on getting some major players to set up children and infant wear, sports apparel, technical textile and viscose staple fibre manufacturing units in the State.
To get these things going, steps have been taken to fill whatever gaps remain in the Ease-of-Doing Business (EoDB) framework by drawing upon the experience of the regulatory delivery wing of the United Kingdom’s Department of Business, Innovation and Skills and other partner agencies.
Deliberations in this regard have been held recently and the path to a better EoDB system is being laid.