The World Bank has approved a $500 million scheme to help India's MSME sector grow.
The World Bank said it had authorized a $500 million program to help MSMEs in India gain more cash due to COVID-19.
The World Bank's Board of Executive Directors has approved a USD 500 million programme to help India's statewide push to revive the MSME sector, hit hard by the COVID-19 issue.
As part of the government's $3.4 billion MSME Competitiveness – A Post-COVID Resilience and Recovery Programme, the programme aims to improve the performance of 555,000 MSMEs and is estimated to raise $15.5 billion in funding (MCRRP).
"The MSME sector in India faces several challenges. There is a need to strengthen access to traditional sources of financial and non-financial services, including women-headed MSMEs, and strengthen coordination in the national and state MSME support programs. Given the magnitude and geographical spread across the country, direct interventions can be prohibitively costly," said Peter Mousley, Lead Private Sector Specialist and World Bank's Task Team Leader for the program. "The RAMP program will support the Government's MCRRP objective of providing a more comprehensive and coordinated Centre-State approach to improve MSME sector productivity, reduce the gender gap, and promote more environmentally sustainable investments."
Approximately 5 million businesses have benefited from the government programme so far. According to the press release, the RAMP programme would aid the government's efforts to boost MSME productivity and financing during the economic recovery phase, bring in private sector finance in the longer term, and address long-standing financial sector concerns MSME growth.
In addition to national operations, the programme will launch targeted efforts in five "first mover" states Gujarat, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Tamil Nadu, with the possibility of more states joining in the future.
RAMP is a World Bank Treasury initiative that combines human capital development, asset management services, and the formation of a practitioner network. The programme, founded in the early 2000s, now has over 70 participants overseeing almost $2 trillion in sovereign assets.
RAMP members come from all over the world to gain access to World Bank expertise, learn from practitioners, grow their personnel, join a global network and collaboration, tackle advanced challenges, increase their training budget, and raise the visibility of their organization.It strives to improve public sector institutions' investment management capabilities so that they can effectively manage public assets and provide high-quality asset management services on a cost-recovery basis while safeguarding members' interests.
For breaking news and live news updates, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Read more on Latest National News on The National Bulletin