Union MSME Minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday announced inclusion of retail and wholesale trade under MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises), according to which they will now get the benefit of priority-sector lending under RBI guidelines. 

Mr Gadkari said that the retail and wholesale trade sector was left out of the ambit of MSMEs. “Now, under the revised guidelines, retail and wholesale trade will also benefit from priority-sector lending under RBI guidelines,” the MSME minister added. In a tweet, he said that the government was committed to strengthening MSMEs and making them engines of economic growth. 

The revised guidelines will benefit 2.5 crore retail and wholesale traders. The move will also allow them to register on Udyam portal. Commenting on the development, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said that with this decision, traders would be able to avail themselves of requisite finances from banks and financial institutions under the priority-sector lending. Besides, now the traders can avail themselves of the benefits of several other government schemes for MSMEs, the MSME ministry has said in a statement.