CPSEs felicitated for procuring orders worth Rs 520 Cr from SC/ST entrepreneurs this year
Giriraj Singh, Minister of State, MSME, felicitated select Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) for their work under the Public Procurement Policy for promotion of SC/ST entrepreneurs, according to an official statement. Fourteen CPSEs in the Maharatna, Navratna, Miniratna, and general categories were felicitated.
The CPSEs felicitated were Indian Oil Corporation Limited, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, NMDC Limited, NBCC (India) Limited, Bharat Electronics Limited, National Small Industries Corporation Limited, MMTC National Film Development Corporation, PEC, Food Corporation of India and Jute Corporation of India.
The Minister explained that according to the Public Procurement Policy, all Central ministries, departments and PSEs have to procure a minimum 25 percent of their total annual purchase or services from MSEs. Further, four percent of this 25 percent is earmarked for units owned by SC/ST entrepreneurs, while 358 items are also reserved for exclusive purchase from the MSEs.
He also said that MSMEs were at the forefront of manufacturing, export and employment creation through measures such as increasing the limit for provision of collateral-free loans to Rs 2 crore, technology upgradation, cluster development, vendor development, and schemes aimed at extending financial benefits to SC/ST entrepreneurs.
“The Ministry of MSME and all CPSEs are on the right path towards achieving the target of four percent procurement from SC/ST enterprises. I urge CPSEs to raise their procurement from MSMEs and break the barrier of 25 percent and strengthen their ‘sambandh’ with MSMEs in order to bring about inclusivity and growth,” the Minister added.
According to the statement, Arun Kumar Panda, Secretary, Ministry of MSME, urged CPSEs to share information of procurement requirements on the MSME Sambandh portal. “The procurement from SC/ST MSEs for the current fiscal year stood at over Rs 520 crore. Orders worth almost Rs 27,000 crore have been procured from over 63,000 MSEs in 2018-19,” he said.
Panda also suggested the formation of a committee to examine the conditions of tender documents of CPSEs that were preventing SC/ST entrepreneurs from participation in public procurement.
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