Rajya Sabha passes MSME Development (Amendment) Bill, 2026, amid opposition uproar over Amit Shah's absence
New Delhi, August 3
The Rajya Sabha on Monday passed the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Bill, 2026, by voice vote, even as the House witnessed sustained sloganeering and protests from Opposition members over Union Home Minister Amit Shah's continued absence from Parliament over the police action on student protesters in Delhi.
Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Jitan Ram Manjhi moved the Bill for passage in the Upper House. The Bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on July 28.
The proposed legislation aims to improve cash flows for small businesses, curb delays in payments and simplify regulatory compliance, with the objective of enhancing the ease of doing business for micro, small and medium enterprises.
"This bill clearly indicates that the objective is to address the existing challenges of the MSME sector, reform the administrative framework, ease business payments, and promote regulatory compliance," said Jitan Ram Manjhi in the House.
The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development (Amendment) Bill, 2026 seeks "to align the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006 with the changing MSME landscape, to enhance the Ease of Doing Business and bring trust-based regulations in the MSME ecosystem."
The document further says the Bill proposes "to strengthen the mechanism for addressing delayed payments and provide for enforcement of arbitral awards for the MSEs, and to introduce flexibility and create enabling provisions for States to decide the composition of the Micro and Small Enterprises Facilitation Council (MSEFC), thereby forming more MSEFCs."
In simpler terms, the proposed law aims to make it easier for MSMEs to do business, improve the system for resolving delayed payment issues, ensure arbitration awards can be enforced, and give states greater flexibility to constitute more Facilitation Councils for resolving disputes involving micro and small enterprises.
— ANI
Reader Comments
Interesting to see India moving on MSME reforms. Having lived in the US, I know how important small businesses are for employment generation. Hope this bill actually delivers on: faster payments, simpler compliance, and better dispute resolution. The devils in the implementation. 🇮🇳🇺🇸
#MSME ka dhan ka khel hai! Banking on paper reforms won't help us small business owners. Payment delays happen because bigger companies have all the power. Hope the Facilitation Council actually works now. And honestly, Manjhi ji - good man but no presence. Where was the PM? 🙄
Voice vote? Means it was passed without proper discussion! This is exactly how NOT to do democracy. The bill might be good for business but let us not ignore that the government is avoiding accountability - Home Minister Shah needs to face Parliament about the police actions. Bilkul no transparency here. 😡
Finally! Something useful passed! As someone whose family runs a garment unit in Tiruppur, let me tell you - delayed payments from big brands can suffocate us. This bill, especially the arbitration and enforcement part, gives me some hope. But state governments need to move fast on setting up more MSEFCs. Paisa vasool ka khel hai isme! 💪
Did anyone notice how the bill was pushed through exactly when the opposition was focused on the Delhi police issue? Tactical move, but not a good look. Also, these amendments have been discussed for years - why the rush now? Suspicious timing, and I'm not even a big opposition fan. Aga bhai, democracy needs better
We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.