The government plans to soon start rating Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises on 50 parameters and classifying them into five categories as part of an initiative that is in sync with the Make in India programme and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for “zero defect” manufacturing that has “zero effect” on the environment.

The enterprises will be classified into bronze, silver, gold, diamond and platinum categories under the rating, which will be called ZED rating, a senior government official told.

It will cover 20,000 MSMEs in the first year on a scale of 2-5 at a total cost of Rs 491 crore. Of this, Rs 365 crore will be contributed by the Centre while Rs 126 crore will be contributed by beneficiaries at a rate of Rs 0.9 lakh per certification which will be valid for four years.

Preference will be given to MSMEs engaged in production or manufacturing of 358 items reserved under public-private partnership, the official said. “This will enable them to grow bigger, to get reasonable economy of scale and most importantly make quality products,” he said.

Source: The Economic Times