Government to change MSME definition to help foreign retailers

India is in the process of revising the definition of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to help them meet the MSME criteria while also catering to foreign retail players.

This is aimed at bringing flexibility to the mandatory clause of foreign retailers sourcing 30 per cent of their products from micro, small and medium enterprises in the country, minister of commerce, industry and textiles Anand Sharma told reporters in Colombo today.

Sharma's clarifications come after IKEA, the world's largest furniture maker, changed its investment plans in India against the mandatory requirement of sourcing 30 per cent of the retailer's products from MSMEs in India.

IKEA has demanded flexibility in the clause as a condition for its planned investment in India.

"Once the Indian MSMEs are engaged with them, the definition will require a change because you have an SME and you have global majors taking from you. So when you are selling this kind of material to a global major, then you may not remain an MSME under the present definition," Sharma said.

"In one year, you may double revenue and profit...It is a continuous process, it has to keep on evolving. The concerned department will discuss and change," he said.