Budget discourages delaying payments to MSMEs, says FM Nirmala Sitharaman

The budget discourages large companies from delaying payments to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) for supply of goods and services, as these small businesses have been kept at the centre of the government’s development goals, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Friday.

“The company that doesn’t clear the bill can’t claim offset (for that amount) for that year just by putting that in their records,” Sitharaman said at an interactive session in Bhubaneswar, explaining the latest budgetary provision on it.

Thanks to the finance ministry’s constant nudge, government departments have mostly cleared their dues to MSMEs within the usual 45 days, or at best within 90 days. However, the minister indicated that many larger private sector firms are not clearing their dues on time, which prompted the government to resort to such a move.

India, the minister said, is making rapid transition to green energy and the budget has made adequate provisions to facilitate that. “The budget is ahead in that curve and we are bringing in investments (through policies) on time for necessary infrastructure to be laid out (on this front),” she said.

The budgetary outlay of ₹35,000 crore will enable state-run oil firms to transition to green energy and help the country achieve its net zero emission commitment, Sitharaman said.

It will also help the oil companies enhance their strategic reserves to ensure greater energy security of the country, she said.