Chennai: The number of sick Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) has doubled in the last four years, the Minister of State for MSME Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha on April 10.

The reply provides figures made available by the Reserve Bank of India, as follows:

The number of sick MSMEs during 2015-16 has doubled to 4,86,291 compared to 2,22, 204 sick units reported during 2012-13.

According to the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, there are around 3.6 crore MSMEs and these provide employment to 8 crore people. They produce over 6,000 products which account for 8 per cent of the GDP, 45 per cent of manufacturing output and 40 per cent of exports.

Source: The Hindu Business Line