MSME registration crosses 20-lakh mark on Modi govt’s Udyam portal; nearly doubles in three months

Technology for MSMEs: The Modi government’s new paperless portal to ease MSME registration – Udyam Registration, launched on July 1, 2020, has crossed the 20-lakh-registration mark. As of February 1, 2021, the portal had registered 20,29,095 MSMEs, up 84.4 per cent in the past three months. The number of registered MSMEs as of November 7, 2020, stood at more than 11 lakh, according to the data from the MSME Ministry. The latest figure was shared by MSME Minister Nitin Gadkari in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha. Udyam Registration is currently integrated with the Central Board of Direct Taxes and GST networks along with the public procurement portal Government e-Marketplace for end-to-end digital registration by MSMEs.

“On 1st July, 2020, after enactment of new definition of MSMEs, a new registration portal ‘Udyam Registration’ has been launched by M/o MSME and so far 20,29,095 MSMEs are registered on the portal in All India,” Gadkari said in his reply in the upper house of the Parliament on Monday. MSMEs are not required to upload any documents or proof except the Aadhaar number for registration. The government has also organized a single-window system at Champions Control Rooms, which are set up at MSME Development Institutes across India, and district industries centres for facilitating the process.

Importantly, the Reserve Bank of India has issued a circular in August last year for clarity on the registration of existing businesses under Entrepreneurs Memorandum (EM) part II and/or Udyog Aadhaar Memorandum (UAM). RBI had said that existing EMs part II and/or UAMs of MSMEs obtained before June 30, 2020, will continue to remain valid till March 31, 2021. According to the ministry, businesses had asked for clarity on whether existing registrations would remain valid after the government’s June 26, 2020 notification on the classification of MSMEs as per the new definition and specification of the form and procedure for registration with effect from July 1, 2020.

“The portal will help the government in identifying the possible beneficiaries of various schemes and packages announced for MSMEs such as collateral-free credit, subordinate debt for distressed MSMEs, etc., and pass these benefits directly to them. This will also help in saving time and cost for small businesses,” Sanjiv Layek, Executive Secretary, World Association For Small And Medium Enterprises (WASME) had told Financial Express Online.

Out of more than 10 lakh registrations as of October 31, 2020, according to the MSME Ministry, 3.72 lakh units were registered under the Manufacturing segment while 6.31 lakh businesses belonged to the Service sector. Moreover, micro-enterprises had the highest share of 93.17 per cent while only 5.62 per cent and 1.21 per cent were represented by small and medium enterprises respectively.