The Covid 19 pandemic has changed the geopolitical, economic, as well as social fabric across the globe. The outcome of this change is unfolding now and the global economy has been facing several challenges like economic slowdown, massive layoffs, etc. At the same time, when the world was realizing the challenges of the pandemic, India found an opportunity in disguise and launched the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Initiative’ to keep the wheel of economic growth moving while focusing on the potential of its large domestic market.
Due to the interrupted global supply chain, the Prime Minister of India has envisioned something that has very well countered the ill impacts of the pandemic on India’s industrial development and local value supply chain. The Rs 20 lakh crore worth economic package has given essential fuel to the economic growth to which Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) have provided the best support. They became the growth engine of self-reliant India with a share of around 29% of India’s total GDP.
Privatization in India by 1991, led to the emergence of the MSME sector which is majorly manufactured /produced, processed, and preserve goods and commodities. It plays a major role in the growth of India’s cottage industry. In the last few years, the launch of government initiatives such as “Make in India”, and “Digital India” has pushed the growth of this sector unprecedently and attracted investment that result in generating more employment opportunities in the sector.
Due to its rising contribution, the government has envisaged new schemes to give impetus to the success of the MSME and injected more money into the sector with the launch of the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ initiative such as the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme and Self-Reliant India Fund to introduce equity funding in MSMEs.
The growth of the MSME has created a cross-sectoral impact and pushed the growth of various sectors such as infrastructure, logistics, etc. But still, continuous support will be needed to fulfill the vision of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ in which more push to India’s MSME sector in terms of finance, and skilled labour will be required to continuously support the growth of India’s economic development.