The Union Ministry for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME), which has already completed the draft proposal of the procurement policy for the sector, will launch it in late March this year, said Alok Roy, the local MSME director.
“The new policy will come into effect once the model code of conduct due to assembly elections is withdrawn. I think it will be effective by March end this year,” he said at the 'Electricity Odisha 2012' seminar here, organised by Utkal Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UCCI).
According to the policy draft, various ministries and public sector units will have to procure at least 20 per cent of their annual purchases from MSMEs.
At present, only four to five per cent of the government’s total annual procurement is made from MSMEs. The policy stipulates three years’ time to raise the share of procurement from MSMEs to 20 per cent. There is also a provision to not to follow the minimum procurement percentage rule in case the firm does not possess the capacity to deliver the desired amount.
Roy said though the new policy mandates PSUs and government departments to procure MSME products from anywhere in the country, it will help Orissa based engineering firms.
“At Mancheswar industrial estate, we have several firms producing uninterrupted power services system, stabilizers and electric cables. I am trying to give the area an electrical equipment cluster status, as a result of which, local entrepreneurs will be able to follow and practice best industry standards,” he said the at the final day of four-day long Electricity Odisha summit.