Reserve Bank of India Hosts Special Town Hall Meeting Focused Women MSME Entrepreneurs in Jammu

The Reserve Bank of India organised a Special Town Hall Meeting on June 27, 2025 in Jammu, to celebrate the ‘MSME Day’ with focus on ‘Women MSME Entrepreneurs’. The ‘MSME Day’ is being celebrated all over India as the United Nations has designated June 27 as MSME Day to raise awareness of the tremendous contributions of MSMEs to the achievement of UN Sustainable Development Goals. Theme for the year 2025 is ‘Enhancing the role of MSMEs as drivers of sustainable growth and innovation’ since MSMEs account for 90% of businesses, 60-70% of employment and 50% of GDP worldwide.

The event had thematic sessions covering flagship schemes of the government such as the PM Vishwakarma Scheme, PMEGP, PM Mudra Scheme, One District One Product initiative. The session also covered challenges related to the rejection of applications under employment generation schemes, and issues relating to Udyam registration. Further, representative from Receivables Exchange of India Limited (RXIL) covered a presentation on Trade Receivable e-Discounting System (TReDS) platform which facilitates online discounting of receivables. The meeting also featured sharing of success stories by women entrepreneurs, followed by an interactive Q&A session.

The Chief Guest, in his address, highlighted the impressive repayment record of PMEGP loans, with a default rate of only about 2%, in UT J&K, indicating a significant potential for credit expansion in the UT of J&K. He expressed concern that penetration of NBFCs (including NBFC-MFI) in the UT remains low though enormous potential exists. He shared that loans up to ₹10 crore are now covered under CGTMSE scheme, with guarantee fees ranging from 1.2% to as low as 0.33% for units in UT of J&K. While around 70% of MSMEs in the UT are registered on the Udyam portal, he stressed the need to enhance formalisation. He also shared that a new scheme with assistance from the Government of India is being developed for early identification of stress in the MSME units and providing necessary support to them.

The event was graced by Shri Vikramjit Singh, Commissioner/ Secretary, Department of Industries & Commerce, UT J&K as the Chief Guest, and Ms. Rachna Sharma, Secretary, Department of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj, UT J&K, as a Special Invitee, in the presence of Shri Chandrashekhar Azad, Regional Director, Reserve Bank of India, Jammu. The event had enthusiastic presence of around 100 MSME entrepreneurs.

The event was also attended, among others, by Sh. Arun Manhas, Director, Department of Industries & Commerce, UT J&K; Dr Jagdish Chander, Secretary/ CEO, Khadi and Village Industries Board, UT J&K; officials from MSME-Development & Facilitation Office, Jammu; Khadi and Village Industries Commission, UT J&K; GM, J&K Bank Ltd; DGM, SBI; DGM, PNB; Chairman, J&K Grameen Bank; AGM, Canara Bank; AGM, SIDBI; senior officials from ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank; and Chairpersons of Industry Associations viz., PHD Chamber of Commerce and Indian Chamber of Commerce.