Dinsha J Patel: Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises

The 72-year-old Dinsha J. Patel first got elected as a MP from Kheda constituency in 1996. This is his fifth consecutive term. He was Minister of state in the MoS petroleum in the earlier Manmohan government.

Issues

Employing 42 million people, the MSME contributes to about 45 per cent of the country's total industrial output and 40 per cent of exports.

Many of the Small and Medium Enterprises have been forced to shut down and millions have lost their jobs.

What he plans to do

The government will address the credit needs of the tiny and small firms, while a separate fund for enterprises in the unorganised sector is proposed, new Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Dinsha Patel.

"In the coming months, our focus area would be to evolve mechanism and structures for addressing the credit need of the sector which is largely unorganised," he said.

The ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) would push for a separate fund for enterprises in the unorganised sector.

The ministry would also propose a 'Procurement Policy', which would set targets for the government departments and institutions to source their requirement from the tiny and small units.