Ease of Doing Business for MSMEs: According to government data, 28,684 micro-enterprises and 3,679 small businesses registered on the Udyam site have grown into small and medium-sized firms since its start through March 22, 2022. According to Minister of State for MSME Ministry Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma, who shared the data in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha during the ongoing second part of the Budget session, the Ministry of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) changed the definition of MSME through a notification on June 26, 2020, following which the Udyam portal for MSMEs registration was only launched on July 1, 2020.

On March 27, 2022, the portal has 79.27 lakh MSMEs registered, with 75.41 lakh micro-enterprises, 3.50 lakh small businesses, and 35,773 medium businesses. 

The MSME definition was changed by the Centre in order for more enterprises to benefit from the government’s MSMEs policies and initiatives. Microbusinesses with an investment of up to Rs 1 crore and a turnover of up to Rs 5 crore were reclassified from businesses with an investment of less than Rs 25 lakh to businesses with an investment of up to Rs 1 crore and a turnover of up to Rs 5 crore. Similarly, small firms with an investment of less than Rs 10 crore and sales of less than Rs 50 crore were formerly deemed small enterprises with an investment of up to Rs 5 crore.

The investment ceiling for medium-sized businesses has been increased from less than Rs 10 crore to less than Rs 50 crore, with a revenue of up to Rs 250 crore. The distinction between the manufacturing and service sectors has been abolished from the updated definition.
In July of last year, the government broadened the MSME definition to include 2.5 million wholesale and retail businesses. However, the benefits to these traders were limited to loans made under the priority sector lending program.

Importantly, according to the previous MSME definition, there were over 1.02 crore MSMEs having Udyog Aadhaar Memorandum (UAM) registration by June 2020, with 89 lakhs being micro-enterprises, 12.20 lakh being small businesses, and 49,840 being big firms. According to the 73rd wave of the National Sample Survey in 2015-16, the total number of unincorporated MSMEs in the country was 6.33 crore. Micro enterprises accounted for 6.30 crore of these units or more than 99 percent.