The present legal structure is provided in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development (MSMED) Act, 2006. The Act addresses several concerns regarding development of micro small and medium enterprises and, inter alia, provides for:

·        recognition of the concept of “enterprises” (comprising both manufacturing and services) which are further classified into micro, small and medium;

·        a statutory consultative mechanism at the national level with wide representation of all sections of stakeholders, particularly three classes of enterprises;

·        Preference in Government procurements to products and services of the micro and small enterprises; and

·        more effective mechanisms for mitigating the problems of delayed payments to micro and small enterprises.

As per information received from States, no State has a separate law governing the operations of the MSME enterprises sector specifically. The Central Government has promulgated the MSMED Act, 2006 which applies to the whole country. 

This information was given by the Union Cabinet Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Shri Virbhadra Singh in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today.

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RTS/HSN