(MENAFN- KNN India) Mumbai, Nov 28 (KNN) The World Trade Center (WTC) Mumbai convened representatives from leading Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) associations for a roundtable discussion with senior government officials to address regulatory challenges and explore measures to improve the ease of doing business.

Participants discussed persistent compliance hurdles, regulatory overlaps, and the need for streamlined processes to support MSMEs as India aims to raise manufacturing's contribution to GDP from 15 percent to 25 percent under the Viksit Bharat vision.

Several associations highlighted procedural hurdles, including the need to obtain fresh permissions when jurisdiction shifts between authorities, despite decades of operations.

Acknowledging the concerns, Pradeep Ojha, Joint Director, Ministry of MSME, agreed to propose exemptions from statutory approvals for new MSMEs, similar to provisions in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh.

Quality Control Order (QCO) requirements and the limited testing infrastructure were also major concerns. Participants sought phased implementation, financial support, and faster approvals under Advance Authorisation licences, which currently face delays of six months to a year.

Responding to this, Sagar Kadu, Director (Logistics), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, said the government is rationalising QCOs, expanding testing facilities through public-private partnerships, and accelerating digital processing.

Surendra Kumar Bagde, Director General, National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG), highlighted the government's continued engagement with MSME stakeholders and outlined recent policy steps, including revised MSME thresholds, the scrapping of nearly 200 Quality Control Orders for intermediary goods, improved credit access, and a new Export Promotion Mission.

A key concern raised by participants was the mandatory safety audit requirement under new regulations. With only a limited number of empanelled auditors available for nearly 60,000 industrial units, MSMEs reported facing compliance bottlenecks.

Bagde, along with Namrata Gandhi, Deputy Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, assured a detailed gap analysis of auditor availability under the NCGG.

Vijay Kalantri, Chairman, WTC Mumbai, and President, All India Association of Industries (AIAI), stressed the need to reduce compliance burdens on MSMEs-comprising over 60 million units and contributing 30 percent to India's GDP and 45 percent of exports.

He raised concerns about dual compliance arising from overlapping Central and State regulations and called for uniformity, self-attestation, and auto-renewal mechanisms to enhance trust and predictability.

Industry representatives also flagged the compliance burden under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, noting low awareness and high penalties.

Officials from NITI Aayog and NCGM urged MSMEs to await the final rules, which they said will include simplified norms and sector-wise guidelines.

Labour compliance, GST notices, and instances of harassment during inspections were among other issues raised. Participants called for self-certification for non-critical approvals, a single-window grievance mechanism, and stronger accountability across enforcement agencies.

Bagde assured that all submissions from the roundtable would be compiled and shared with the relevant ministries and state authorities for corrective action.

The meeting saw participation from key trade and MSME bodies including WTC Mumbai, AIAI, Laghu Udyog, TISSA, FICCI, RATA, LUB, TTSPL, ASSOCHAM and IEEMA, with representation from Mumbai Metropolitan Region as well as Thane, Palghar and Raigad.

(KNN Bureau)

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