RBI governor Raghuram Rajan on May 21 said Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) hold the key to creating more jobs and accelerate country’s economic growth and the sector ought to be encouraged to flourish in a hassle-free environment.

Rajan stressed the need for rapid implementation of programmes like Skill India and Make in India and suggested certain changes in the administrative system like abolition of inspector raj, simplification of excessive regulations, introduction of self-certification provision and creation of industrial parks for SMEs to survive and move forward. Jobs are really created by small and medium enterprises, he observed and urged the government and other agencies to help them progress.

The RBI governor was here to address ministers and bureaucrats on the subject ‘India: prospects and challenges’ as part of Odisha Knowledge Hub lecture series. He cited the example of the UK and said lighter regulations in that country had helped small firms to grow much faster and bigger. He said land acquisition for industries though a problem could be solved to a great extent by creating industrial parks and vacating ailing industries to make room for new entrepreneurs.

He said the RBI has since brought the medium enterprises under the ambit of priority sector lending. It is a positive sign that lending to micro and medium enterprises has increased significantly by both private and public sector banks since past several years, he said adding that the government should procure their products in order to ensure their survival and protection of employees.

The RBI governor said though country’s economy had been in the midst of recovery, some sectors like agriculture in the face of two successive droughts needs attention.

Rajan met Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik before delivering the lecture. He visited some craft villages on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar and said effective market linkage and proper advertisement through e-commerce sites would increase demand of their products.

Source: Times of India