MSMEs most vulnerable in the current phase

Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Bengaluru, after shutting down their factories for the last 40 days, are now preparing to restart their operations from May 4th. However, they are now facing a peculiar situation, wherein their workers have migrated back to their native places in the last month. Unless they return to Bengaluru, the factories cannot resume their work.

“There are about 5 million workers engaged across micro, small and medium enterprises all over Bengaluru city. Of this, an estimated one million workers have gone to their hometowns. Their parents are scared about them contracting the virus and not allowing them to come back to Bengaluru. We are trying to convince them to return,” said R Raju, President, Karnataka Small Scale Industries Association (Kassia).

The MSME units fear normalisation of their business would take at least six months. With no business for the last 40 days, they are facing shortage of funds to restart business. “If the government does not announce any relief package for us immediately, we will not be able to restart our factories,” Raju added.

Meanwhile, the government of Karnataka is supporting Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship (GAME) to set up a Support Network with focused response to create specific touch points across multiple challenges faced by micro and small businesses.

The network backed by a coalition of partners will ensure access to finance and business support, and importantly, access to all relevant information and schemes.

The Support Network helpline ([phone]) will connect entrepreneurs to various mentors and experts across finance, marketing, digital tools, business consulting and mental health. The Support helpline will be operational from 9:30 AM to 6:30 PM from Monday to Saturday. This helpline is currently available in Karnataka, in Kannada, Hindi and English languages. It will be extended across the country in a phased manner, said Madan Padaki, co-founder, GAME.

Maheshwar Rao, Secretary, Commerce & Industries Department (MSME & Mines) said, “MSMEs play a vital role in providing employment to the Agriculture sector. With over 7.85 lakh registered MSMEs having more than Rs 83,000 crore investment, Karnataka has a large base of enterprises. In the current context, there is an urgent need to extend every possible support to them. We are committed to protecting this group of most vulnerable entrepreneurs and this is one such step to demonstrate our support to them.”