The Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) organized CPSE Conclave on Public Procurement Policy here today to recognize the contribution of CPSEs towards fulfilling the mandate under Public Procurement Policy of Government of India. The conclave was presided over by Union Minister of MSME, Shri Narayan Rane along with the Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Shri Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma. The meeting was also attended by Secretary MSME, Shri S.C.L. Das, Joint Secretary, MSME, Ms Mercy Epao along with other dignitaries and CMD representatives of different CPSEs.

The National SC-ST Hub was launched by the Prime Minister in the year 2016 with an objective of creating a supportive ecosystem for SC/ST entrepreneurs. For providing handholding support, and augmenting their capacities to effectively participate in public procurement processes many new interventions have been introduced since its inception. The conclave provided an interactive platform to deliberate upon new interventions and ideas on successful implementation of Public Procurement Policy mandate. With participation from around 100 CPSEs, the conclave focussed on sensitizing, recognizing, and felicitating the CPSEs who have been endeavouring to achieve the targets of procurement from SC/ST and Women MSEs.

Ms. Mercy Epao, Joint Secretary, Ministry of MSME welcomed all the dignitaries and participants in the programme. She said that for inclusive growth, Ministry of MSME is implementing the National SC-ST Hub Scheme with the objective of creating an ecosystem for SC/ST entrepreneurs and handholding them to participate in the public procurement to achieve 4% mandate as per the Public Procurement Policy. Following the welcome address, a special technical session was also held where detailed presentations were given on Public Procurement Policy, ZeD, TReDS and GeM. It was emphasised that these initiatives are making the supply chain robust by giving maximum benefits to MSMEs. The technical session culminated with session on the dissemination of best practices by selected CPSEs which enabled them to enhance participation of SC-ST entrepreneurs in public procurement.

The technical session was followed by Plenary session which started with the keynote address by Shri S.C.L. Das, Secretary, Ministry of MSME. In his address, Shri Das spoke in depth about the concerted efforts of the Ministry of MSME to augment the capacity and promote MSMEs and entrepreneurship culture in India.

Union Minister MSME, Shri Narayan Rane encouraged efforts undertaken by CPSEs towards fulfilling the Public Procurement Policy mandate and presented them with the certificate of appreciation as a token of recognition. Minster also declared result of MSME Idea Hackathon 3.0 (Women). 397 ideas were declared successful for getting financial assistance upto Rs. 15 lakh from M/o MSME. Shri Rane urged all the CPSEs to proactively reach out to SC, ST, and women entrepreneurs and provide the required hand-holding support to enhance their participation in public procurement.

Shri Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma in his address stressed upon more active participation from CPSEs in fulfilling the mandate in respect of SC, ST and women MSEs envisaged under Public Procurement Policy.

Nurturing the MSME sector is important for the economic well-being of the nation. The government is consistently working to empower MSMEs for sustainable growth and to integrate them into the global value chain. These types of conclaves assist stakeholders to expand their horizons by incorporating new ideas as they become aware of the various interventions made by the Government.

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