International MSME Day 2025 – Celebrating Small & Medium Scales Businesses

As the global economy moves toward achieving inclusive and sustainable growth, the importance of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) cannot be overstated. MSMEs are major contributors to the economy, accounting for 30% of GDP, 24% of employment, and 45% of exports. This makes them a resilient backbone of society.

The United Nations General Assembly designated 27 June as “Micro-, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises Day” to raise awareness of the contributions of MSMEs in the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The theme for this year’s MSME Day, observed on 27th June, is “Enhancing the role of Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) as drivers of Sustainable Growth and Innovation.” Amid shifting dynamics in the global trading landscape, the focus on MSMEs has become increasingly crucial in today’s evolving global trade environment. MSMEs are not only a crucial source of jobs, income, and local economic growth, but also play a significant role in fostering fair and resilient communities.

The Role of MSMEs in Sustainable Growth and Innovation

 According to reports by the World Bank, 600 million jobs will be needed by 2030 to absorb the growing global workforce. A significant share of this demand is expected to be met by MSMEs, which are the primary drivers of job creation in emerging economies.

This require MSMEs to stay ahead in the curve of growth and leverage the benefit of the new age technologies. With world shifting its focus towards sustainability and inclusive development, empowering MSMEs with access to new age technology, finance, and policy support is essential for ensuring long-term, equitable growth. From digital lending to Industry 4.0, every innovation plays a major role in enhancing the contribution of MSMEs to the domestic market and global supply chains.

These innovations can also play a crucial role in eliminating gender barriers, thereby encouraging more women entrepreneurs. According to findings from the International Finance Corporation (IFC)’s Enterprise Finance Gap Assessment Database, it is estimated that globally there are roughly 9.34 million formal women-owned MSMEs across more than 140 assessed countries.

In India, MSMEs are increasingly becoming a major catalyst for encouraging women to take on leadership roles. As per the Ministry of MSME Annual Report 2024-25, more than 2.2 crore women-led enterprises were registered under the Udyam Portal. By empowering women entrepreneurs, MSMEs are fostering inclusive growth and contributing meaningfully to gender equality in India’s economic landscape.

CII with ambitious project Digital Saksham has connected with over 3,04,623 micro-enterprises and trained 89,159 micro-entrepreneurs to integrate digital tools in their businesses. The result was 51,449 transformed from traditional to digital business practices where women entrepreneurs showed keen interest in integrating into digital economy.

To share a story, Ms Tapati Roy, owner of Bimla Book Agency in West Bengal lost her husband to Covid-19. Her family’s only source of income was her bookshop which she wanted to keep running. She took the trainings under Project Digital Saksham and today through social media marketing she has expanded her sales to regions like Tripura, Assam, Jharkhand, Odisha and North Bengal. Today 60% of business comes from online marketing with daily 50-60 orders fulfilled through couriers.

Furthermore, MSMEs have huge potential for becoming more energy-efficient by adopting green technology and other environmentally friendly strategies helping contribute to our SDGs. MSMEs also account for about 20 percent of patents, which is one measure of innovation, in biotechnology-related fields in Europe. The ability of MSMEs to replicate and commercialise technology and add value in a range of areas, such as software, nanotechnology, biotechnology and clean technologies is also critical to enhance innovation and push for sustainable growth.

 Initiatives by the Indian Government

 In 2020, the Udyam Registration Portal was launched to facilitate registration for existing enterprises across the country. Further, in 2023, the Udyam Assist Platform was launched to integrate informal micro-enterprises into the formal sector. These initiatives aim to enable these enterprises to access benefits under Priority Sector Lending, thereby enhancing their growth and sustainability.

Today the portal has around 6 crore MSMEs registered under Udyam, which means over these many MSMEs are under the formal economy now.

With Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), margin money (subsidy) is provided to beneficiaries availing loan from banks for setting up new enterprises. This initiative has allowed to foster entrepreneurship and generate employment across the country.

MSMEs exports have witnessed a remarkable rise, increasing from ₹3.95 lakh crore in 2020-21 to ₹12.39 lakh crore in 2024-25. This underscores their critical role in boosting India’s economy and strengthening global trade. As India strives to position itself as a global powerhouse, the MSME sector plays a crucial role in fostering innovation, generating employment, and enhancing export competitiveness.

Future growth

In the last few decades, MSMEs have grown as a lively and active segment of the Indian economy. They play a vital role in generating employment, promoting entrepreneurship and contributing to the local and national economy. The social growth provided by MSMEs through its ability to empower individuals and societies is undeniable. As MSMEs expand their sphere of influence across domestic and global value chains, generating a broad range of products and services, there is a need to formalise economies to create enabling conditions for them to thrive. Policies and schemes made for them should also reach them on time, and the use of Extension Centres must be emphasised. With digitisation becoming a critical business need, it is necessary to equip MSMEs with the necessary digital infrastructure and skills to help them become an even more powerful engine of inclusive and sustainable growth.