Nearly 73 per cent of small and micro business entities operating in the country were unable to report profits during the last financial year following the impact caused by the COVID-19 enforced lockdown, a report prepared by Consortium of Indian Associations (CIA) along with 40 other associations said on Thursday.
As many as 63 million micro, small enterprises and 40 million self-employed individuals were present in the country, the report said.
The respondents included 81,000 self-employed and micro, small businesses across the country comprising 49 per cent manufacturing segment, 15 per cent service providers, 14 per cent self-employed, consultants, start-ups, traders, food and hospitality sectors, CIA said.
Nearly 59 per cent of companies removed their manpower during both first and second wave of the pandemic while 88 per cent of the respondents were yet to avail the stimulus packages, the report said.
"Over the past year, CIA has provided vital suggestions required on several initiatives taken by the central and state governments for the benefits of MSMEs", CIA convener K E Raghunathan said.
"We realised that a data-backed survey would help consolidate the feedback from this sector, to provide solutions and a way forward to revive the sector", he added.
According to the report, nearly 64 per cent of the SMBs were unable to avail loans due to last year's financial performance while 36 per cent of the firms were finding it difficult to sustain the business.
Twenty nine per cent of the companies have said they were not able to comply with statutory returns on time because of the delay on payments due to the pandemic, the report said.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dear Reader,
Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.
We, however, have a request.
As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.
Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.
Digital Editor
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU