Bengal's MSME sector achieves major turnaround

It might sound unbelievable but the fact is that West Bengal is among the top ten in terms of coverage of businesses in the Dun & Bradstreet Database, with the majority being MSMEs. There has been a significant increase in business interest in MSMEs based in West Bengal, with the volume of inquiries from global and domestic companies growing four times since 2019. Last year, MSMEs constituted close to 70 per cent of the inquiries by global customers on Bengal-based companies. Dun & Bradstreet surveys have revealed that market access is the biggest challenge to MSMEs in scaling up their businesses. And now here is an initiative that promises to empower MSMEs in the state and build credibility, increase visibility, expand access to global markets, find potential customers and identify growth opportunities. Dun & Bradstreet India has teamed up with the West Bengal government to issue D-U-N-S numbers to exporters and MSMEs in the state. The D-U-N-S Number is a unique nine-digit identifier for businesses. This number is assigned once Dun & Bradstreet’s patented identity resolution process identifies a company as being unique from any other in the Dun & Bradstreet Data Cloud. It helps identify, validate, and link businesses worldwide. The D-U-N-S Number identifies a company's Dun & Bradstreet business credit file, which may include firmographic data, corporate family relationships and scores and ratings that assess different financial health indicators. Potential partners and lenders can request a business credit report about the business using its D-U-N-S Number. On that count it is more than a mere number. Of course, one will be wondering about the benefits that come with the exclusive number. A positive is that the D-U-N-S Number is recognised, recommended, and required by over 240 governments, trade, and industry organisations around the globe. And there are 2.5 lakh global and domestic customers, who leverage the Dun & Bradstreet Data Cloud for decision making.

The Mamata Banerjee-led government claims that West Bengal occupies a predominant position in the country in terms of development of micro, small and medium enterprises. Strategic initiatives of the State Government taken up in the last few years for promotion and growth of MSMEs have resulted in their spectacular growth in terms of investment, employment and exports. Incidentally, the number of MSMEs and people employed in the sector in the State, in formal and informal segments, are among the highest in the country. Interestingly, nearly 90 lakh MSME units are functioning in the state, employing close to 1.35 crore people, according to state government data. The state’s MSME sector received loans worth Rs 1.20 lakh crore from banks in the last financial year.

Lenders in Bengal have received close to 70,000 applications under the Bhavishyat Credit Card scheme that was announced by the state government in the budget in February. The scheme, which offers a 15 per cent credit guarantee by the state and 85 per cent guarantee under Credit Guarantee Trust for SMEs, became effective on April 1. So things are looking up for Bengal's MSME sector.