The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Ministry has sought Rs 5,500 crore from the Finance Ministry for promoting the sector, which has been hit-hard by the global financial crisis.

"We met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and asked for Rs 5,000-5,500 crore over the next three-five years to implement the recommendations of the MSME task force," MSME Secretary Dinesh Rai told reporters here today.

Asked about the response of the Finance Minister, Rai said, "he was positive about it."

The MSME Ministry had, last week, submitted the task force report to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The report, among other things, recommended extension of the stimulus package specific to MSMEs for one more year, besides calling for procurement policy and creating a separate fund for the industry.

Minister of State (independent charge) for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Dinsha Patel said, "We have sent the task force recommendations to the Commerce, Labour and Heavy Industries ministries to examine these suggestions. We expect that the recommendations should be implemented within the next six months."

Source:http://www.business-standard.com/