costs, rbi is in active discussions with goi, iba, sidbi and e - governance experts to set up a universal “ udyami ” portal for access by small entrepreneur. 10. the committee on medium term path on financial inclusion ( chairman : shri deepak mohanty ) has recommended exploring a system of professional credit advisors for msmes, which could help bridge the information gap between bank and the borrower that is a major constraint in the flow of credit to the msme sector today. as announced by the governor in yesterday ’ s monetary policy statement, there is a proposal to accord bis central bankers ’ speeches accreditation to few credit counsellors who would act as facilitators for the micro and small entrepreneurs for accessing the formal financial system with greater ease and flexibility. since msmes are typically enterprises with weak credit histories and inadequate expertise in preparing financial statements, credit counsellors can help bridge the information gap and thereby help banks make better credit decisions. the reserve bank will hold consultations with all the stakeholders and come out with guidelines for this by september 2016. 11. another financial infrastructure, which could have a multiplier effect on lending to small businesses, is a movable asset registry. today cersai provides a facility for registering charge on immovable property. however, most of the small business entrepreneurs do not possess immovable property to offer as collateral and instead they own machinery, stocks, receivables or livestock, which can be leveraged to obtain finance from banking channels if a “ movable asset ” registry is available. we are working towards this as well. tiding over the life cycle issues – msme way 12. predicting the lifecycle of msmes, particularly the micro units, is a difficult proposition. the micro entrepreneurs neither have keen business acumen nor sizeable resources. as opposed to larger businesses, the inability to respond in time to the vagaries of these business cycles can often prove fatal to the micro enterprise. with timeliness of resource support being such a critical element at different stages during the life cycle of small businesses, let me flag a few initiatives which rbi has taken to address the issue. 13. rbi has recently issued licenses to three entities for operating the trade receivable discounting system ( treds ), which when operational, would address a major issue faced by the sector, i. e. timely realization of receivables. this is a path - breaking initiative with very few parallels in other countries

s s mundra : empowering msmes – issues & challenges inaugural address by mr s s mundra, deputy governor of the reserve bank of india, at the 2nd bankers borrowers business meet 2016, new delhi, 6 april 2016. * * * assistance provided by shri jose kattoor and ms. chaithanya devi is gratefully acknowledged. 1. shri rajkumar dhoot, member of parliament ; shri k. k. jalan, secretary, ministry of msme, govt. of india ; shri ashwani kumar chairman, indian banks ’ association & cmd, dena bank ; dr. kshatrapati shivaji, chairman & managing director, sidbi ; shri sunil kanoria, president, assocham ; dignitaries on the dais ; distinguished colleagues from the banking fraternity ; members of assocham ; representatives of the print and electronic media ; ladies and gentlemen! bringing the bankers and the borrowers together on a common platform to deliberate on issues and challenges that afflict businesses is a very novel idea and hence, i could not refuse an invite to address this gathering for the second year in a row. so, i begin by complimenting assocham for conceptualizing this “ bankers - borrowersbusiness ” meet and more so, for choosing “ empowering msmes ” as the theme for the second edition of the meet. the theme is extremely significant for a number of reasons : continued moderation in economic growth ; rising pile of stressed assets in the corporate loan book of banks ; need for employment generation ; fulfilling entrepreneurial ambitions and so on. 2. i understand that three fundamental issues pertaining to the msme sector are getting covered during the deliberations here : firstly, enabling better understanding of the sector by the banking community ; secondly, ensuring timely financial support to distressed micro and small enterprises ; thirdly empowering msmes, an objective that is closely linked to the first two. 3. let me set the ball rolling by briefly speaking on each of these three issues which can then be deliberated upon in greater detail in the technical sessions that follow. to put things in context, i would like to recall that the msme sector has emerged as a vibrant and dynamic sector of the indian economy, contributing 37. 5 per cent of india ’ s gdp, with its vast network of 48 million enterprises providing employment to 111. 4 million persons. 1 it may not be out of place to mention here that in the face of adverse economic conditions prevalent in the