In terms of Gazette Notification S.O. 1364 (E) dated March 21, 2025, an enterprise shall be classified as a micro, small or medium enterprise on the basis of the following criteria viz.,

i. a micro enterprise, where the investment in plant and machinery or equipment does not exceed ₹2.5 crore and turnover does not exceed ₹10 crore;

ii. a small enterprise, where the investment in plant and machinery or equipment does not exceed ₹25 crore and turnover does not exceed ₹100 crore; and

iii. a medium enterprise, where the investment in plant and machinery or equipment does not exceed ₹125 crore and turnover does not exceed ₹500 crore.

All such enterprises are required to register online on the Udyam Registration portal and obtain ‘Udyam Registration Certificate’. For Priority Sector Lending (PSL) purposes banks shall be guided by the classification recorded in the Udyam Registration Certificate (URC). (Refer Master Direction FIDD.MSME & NFS.12/06.02.31/2017-18 dated July 24, 2017 and circular FIDD.MSME & NFS.BC.No.13/06.02.31/2023-24 dated December 28, 2023)

Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Government of India has launched the Udyam Assist Platform (UAP) to facilitate formalisation of Informal Micro Enterprises (IMEs) through online generation of Udyam Assist Certificate. Ministry of MSME has defined IMEs as those enterprises, which on the basis of their turnover, are exempted from filing returns under the provisions of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017.

The UAP is managed by SIDBI wherein registration of enterprises on the platform is done with the assistance of Designated Agencies which are RBI regulated entities (including scheduled commercial banks, non-banking financial companies, etc.). The certificate issued on UAP to IMEs is treated at par with URC for the purpose of availing PSL benefits. IMEs with an Udyam Assist Certificate are treated as micro enterprises for the purpose of PSL classification. (Refer Master Direction FIDD.MSME & NFS.12/06.02.31/2017-18 dated July 24, 2017 and circular  FIDD.MSME & NFS.BC.No.09/06.02.31/2023-24 dated May 09, 2023)

In terms of the Master Directions - Reserve Bank of India (Priority Sector Lending – Targets and Classification) Directions, 2025 dated March 24, 2025, all bank loans to MSMEs shall qualify for classification under priority sector lending (PSL). The definition of MSMEs shall be as given in the Master Direction - Lending to MSME Sector FIDD.MSME & NFS.12/06.02.31/2017-18 dated July 24, 2017 as updated from time to time. For PSL classification purposes, banks shall be guided by the classification recorded in the Udyam Registration Certificate (URC)/ Udyam Assist Certificate (UAC).

Further, RBI has, from time to time, issued a number of instructions / guidelines to banks relating to lending to the MSME Sector. The Master Direction FIDD.MSME & NFS.12/06.02.31/2017-18 dated July 24, 2017 incorporates the updated instructions / guidelines on the subject. The instructions issued by RBI, to banks, on various matters are available on our website www.rbi.org.in.

The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises vide Office Memorandum No. 5/2(2)/2021-E/P & G/Policy dated July 02, 2021 decided to include Retail and Wholesale trade as MSMEs for the limited purpose of Priority Sector Lending and they would be allowed to be registered on Udyam Registration Portal. Detailed guidelines are available in our circular FIDD.MSME & NFS.BC.No.13/06.02.31/2021-22 dated July 07, 2021.

Priority sector lending include only those sectors as part of the priority sector, that impact large sections of the population, the weaker sections and the sectors which are employment-intensive such as agriculture, and Micro and Small enterprises. Detailed guidelines on Priority sector lending are available in our Master Directions - Reserve Bank of India (Priority Sector Lending – Targets and Classification) Directions, 2025 dated March 24, 2025 and updated from time to time.

A sub-target of 7.5% of Adjusted Net Bank Credit (ANBC) or Credit Equivalent of Off-Balance Sheet Exposure (CEOBE), whichever is higher, towards lending to the Micro-enterprises under overall Priority Sector Lending has been prescribed for Domestic commercial banks, Foreign banks with 20 branches and above, Regional Rural Banks and Small Finance Banks.

Banks have been advised to put in place loan policies governing extension of credit facilities for the MSE sector duly approved by their Board of Directors (Refer circular RPCD.SME & NFS.BC.No.102/06.04.01/2008-09 dated May 4, 2009). Banks have, however, been advised to sanction limits after proper appraisal of the genuine working capital requirements of the borrowers keeping in mind their business cycle and short-term credit requirement. As per Nayak Committee Report, working capital limits to SSI units is computed on the basis of minimum 20% of their estimated turnover up to credit limit of Rs.5 crore.

A composite loan limit of Rs.1 crore can be sanctioned by banks to enable the MSME entrepreneurs to avail of their working capital and term loan requirement through Single Window in terms of our Master Direction on lending to the MSME sector dated July 24, 2017. All scheduled commercial banks were advised vide our circular RPCD.SME&NFS. BC.No.102/06.04.01/2008-09 dated May 4, 2009 that the banks which have sanctioned term loan singly or jointly must also sanction working capital (WC) limit singly (or jointly, in the ratio of term loan) to avoid delay in commencement of commercial production thereby ensuring that there are no cases where term loan has been sanctioned and working capital facilities are yet to be sanctioned.

In terms of the Master Direction on lending to the MSME sector dated July 24, 2017, a cluster has been defined as identified by the Ministry of MSME, Government of India or the respective State /UT Governments. SLBC/UTLBC Convenor banks shall display the list of these clusters on their portals and update them semi-annually as at end-March and end-September. The updated list of clusters identified by Ministry of MSME may be accessed from Ministry's official website, while information on clusters recognized by State Governments/Union Territories shall be obtained directly from the respective authorities.

The lead banks of districts have been advised to promote 'credit-linkage' in all clusters located within the district. The initiatives under promotion of the credit-linkage, include addressing credit needs of MSE units in the clusters, creating awareness among MSE units through financial literacy initiatives, enabling coverage under skill development initiatives and undertaking proactive measures in underbanked clusters.

The banks have also been advised to ensure that the credit needs of clusters are appropriately included in the exercise of preparation of branch/block level credit plans so that the same can be aggregated by lead banks to form the District Credit Plan (DCP) and subsequently by SLBC /UTLBC Convenor banks to prepare the Annual Credit Plan (ACP).

As part of the financial sector liberalisation, all credit related matters of banks including charging of interest have been deregulated by RBI and are governed by the banks' own lending policies.

With a view to improve monetary policy transmission, banks have been advised to link loans to Micro and Small Enterprises to an external benchmark from October 01, 2019. (Refer circular DBR.DIR.BC.No.14/13.03.00/2019-20 dated September 04, 2019). To further improve the transmission of monetary policy rates, it has been decided that with effect from April 01, 2020, loans to Medium Enterprises shall be linked to external benchmark. (Refer circular DOR.DIR.BC.No.39/13.03.00/2019-20 dated February 26, 2020).