Banks remain uncomfortable lending to manufacturing micro, small and medium enterprises despite the Centre unveiling guidelines aimed at improving access to credit for MSMEs battered by the pandemic, says president of the Federation of Telangana Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FTCCI) K. Bhasker Reddy.
Since the pressure of non-performing assets (NPAs) seem to be behind the banks reluctance, Reserve Bank of India must come with guidelines clarifying that such lending will not be classified as NPAs. “The banks will [then] come forth and give,” credit to the MSMEs, Mr.Reddy said in an interaction after he and Anil Agarwal were elected unanimously president and senior vice president respectively of the umbrella body of trade and industry bodies for 2021-22.
Noting that manufacturing MSMEs were severely impacted in the second wave of the pandemic, he said instead of implementing the COVID-19 relief schemes through a few nationalised banks, the government should have roped in all banks and financial institutions. Access to bank credit, however, is not the only issue for the manufacturing MSMEs, he said, adding how the rising fuel prices have also added to their stress. The cascading effect has necessitated the need for another round of relief measure for industry, he said.
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Founder and MD of Creamline Dairy Products, a company that since has become a part of Godrej Agrovet, Mr. Reddy has been member of FTCCI’s managing committee for 15 years and in 2020-21 its senior vice-president. On his plans for FTCCI, he said the emphasis will be onboarding more members and doubling their numbers to 6,000 in three years. Another area of focus would be to offer more services to the members, especially technology and data driven as well as support systems. FTCCI would like to partner a number of organisations be it government-backed institutions or industry bodies.
In terms of new facilities, it has started work to set up an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Centre in partnership with NALSAR University and joined hands with the Telangana government to establish a Skill Development centre. In addition to 3,000 direct members, FTCCI has 25,000 indirect members.
“We will be working closely with government of Telangana in unleashing the economic potential of the State and create skill development programmes generating employment for an all around growth and making the State most sought after investment destination,” Mr.Reddy said.
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