Guidelines for Self-Reliant India (SRI) Fund

Introduction:

MSME Sector is very important for the Indian economy in terms of contribution to GDP and employment generation. India has over 6 Crores MSMEs across manufacturing and services sectors which employ over 11 Crores people. MSMEs also contribute immensely in exports from the country. The MSMEs are spread in every nook and corner of the country. However, one of the biggest challenges faced by MSMEs in India is the inadequate availability of capital. MSMEs have limited access to external equity primarily because only a handful of players provide early stage equity capital. Even if the equity is made available, the uptake would remain low due to

• Legal Structure of MSMEs prevents infusion of external equity;
• Smaller investment size per enterprise tends to increase transaction cost and management costs for equity investors making this segment relatively less attractive;
• Information asymmetry between promoters, investors and other stakeholders;
• Entrepreneur’s concern regarding control and management;
• Low probability of non-linear return discouraging the Venture Capital ( VC) funding.

Also, current VC ecosystem seeks technology driven enterprises and have exponential exit stipulations. It is also noted that VCs generally offer early stage funding but very few VCs are available to provide growth stage funding. This is one among the primary reasons that MSMEs have not grown beyond a limit. Also, while listing on an exchange provides a lot of benefits to MSMEs and their stakeholders, but MSMEs often shy away from listing due to increased disclosure requirements and compliance burden. Listing can help the MSMEs grow faster and more sustainably over the long term.

Setting up an MSME fund in the name of SRI (Self-Reliant India) Fund would squarely address these challenges, give them a thrust to break their barriers, encourage corporatisation and allow them to grow to their full inherent potential. With Government intervention, the SRI Fund scheme would be able to channelize diverse variety of funds into underserved MSMEs and address the growth needs of viable and high growth MSMEs.

Objectives:

SRI Fund, in the form of Category II Alternative Investment Fund (AIF), will be oriented towards providing funding support to the Daughter Funds for onward provision to MSMEs as growth capital, in the form of equity or quasi-equity, for

1. Enhancing equity/equity like financing to MSMEs and listing of MSMEs on Stock’s Exchanges
2. Supporting faster growth of MSME Businesses and thereby ignite the economy and create employment opportunities;
3. Supporting enterprises which have the potential to graduate beyond the MSME bracket and become National / International Champions;
4. Supporting MSMEs which help making India self-reliant by producing relevant technologies, goods and services.

Scope and Target of the Fund

1. Since MSMEs are spread all over the country, the Fund should be dispersed to ensure that impact is created across the Nation and entities in farthest regions of the country can access this funding.
2. The target group of funding, through the Daughter Funds, would be those MSMEs which have marked potential to grow, but are not able to grow because their requirement for growth capital remains unfulfilled. They do not have access to the market and debt funding is difficult to come owing to borrowing cost, inability to provide security, over leveraging etc. To tackle this
   1. The funding would be provided to all existing and interested eligible MSMEs which, after assessment, are found viable, whose growth trajectory is positive, and who have a defined business plan for growth indicating positive funds flow. Previous 3 years CAGR will be considered and due weightage will be given to potential for growth.
   2. MSMEs, defined as per the MSMED Act, as amended from time to time, shall be eligible for consideration.
   3. Non Profit institutions, NBFCs, financial inclusion sector, micro credit sector, SHGs and other financial intermediaries shall not be eligible for consideration.
   4. The fund will seek to actively encourage different term sheets with a view to ensuring non-linear returns envisaged from venture capital funding. It will also factor in the non-monetary aspects, in terms of employment, reduction in regional disparity, overall economic development and establishing supply chains with depth and resilience.
   5. Notwithstanding the above, the guidelines on the investment orientation, industry focus and strategy will be worked out at the time of filing the Private Placement Memorandum(PPM).