Prime Minister met representatives of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises sector including representatives from All India Confederation of Small & Micro Industries Associations, Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises, Federation of Association of Small Industries of India, Jharkhand Small and Tiny Industries Association, Tamil Nadu Small & Tiny Industries Association, and Laghu Udyog Bharati. Shri Dinsha Patel, Minister for MSME, Shri Dinesh Rai, Secretary MSME, and Shri Madhav Lal Additional Secretary & Development Commissioner, MSME were present on this occasion. Shri Ashok Chawla, Finance Secretary was also present.

Several important issues were highlighted by the representatives of the MSME associations including shortage of credit, need for a focused procurement policy, prompt payment of MSME dues, additional finances from SIDBI, simplification of labour laws to prevent inspector raj, formulation of a one-time settlement policy to strengthen the MSME industries and remove bottlenecks in their development.

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh shared their concerns and assured the representatives that Government is committed to provide a fillip to this very important segment of the economy. He said that it will be ensured that over a period of time, flow of credit will increase commensurate with the financial needs of the sector. He announced the setting up of a high-level Task Force to reflect on the issues raised by the associations and formulate an agenda for action within a period of three months after deliberations with all stakeholders.