Nitin Gadkari eyes Rs 10 lakh Cr revenue in 2-3 years from govt ecommerce portal 'Bharatcraft'

Union minister for MSME Nitin Gadkari on Thursday said the government's ecommerce marketing platform, Bharatcraft has the potential to achieve revenues of around Rs 10 lakh crore in two to three years.

"The Bharatcraft portal, which will be on the lines of Alibaba and Amazon, will provide a platform for MSMEs to market and sell their products and in turn boost the sector," Gadkari said.

Speaking at 200th listing of an MSME company 'Wonder Fibromats' on NSE EMERGE, Gadkari said, "We want to give a boost to the MSME sector which is currently contributing nearly 29 percent to the manufacturing segment and 40 percent to exports." 

The MSME sector has the potential to generate additional employment of five crore in the next five years. The government has set a target to increase the contribution of MSMEs in the manufacturing sector to 50 percent in this time period, he added.

Gadkari further said that payments have always been an issue for MSMEs as the Government and public sectors delay their payments.

"A committee has been set up to study this aspect and we expect the report in the next few days. The government is planning to enable legislation framework, which would help the MSME sector get their payments faster, within 45 days of the bills being due. Any further delay in payments would lead to legal implications," the minister said.

He said the government will encourage MSMEs to contribute more towards exports, overall economic growth, and also enhance their employment potential.

"At a time when we have nearly six crore MSMEs in the country, we have only 200 listings on such platform. There are MSMEs who have larger exposure to exports. I want such companies to come forward and use this instrument. This will boost the sector," Gadkari said, adding that if small investors start investing in such platform, it will open a new gateway for development.

"For this portal, we have also talked to GeM (Government e-Market place) and I have also discussed with Piyush Goyal (Commerce and Industry Minister)," Gadkari had said earlier.

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