On 3 July 2026 the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises issued details on the National SC‑ST Hub (NSSH) scheme to address market access, finance, technology and institutional‑network barriers for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes entrepreneurs.
Scheme at a glance
- Implementing ministry: Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME).
- Primary objective: Enhance participation of SC/ST entrepreneurs in public procurement and formal markets.
- Procurement target: Scheme supports achievement of the mandated 4% public procurement from SC/ST‑owned MSEs.
Key components
- Capacity building: Training on financial management, tender participation, pricing strategies and regulatory compliance.
- Business Accelerator Programme (BAP): Structured mentorship, industry insights and targeted business interventions for market and procurement readiness.
- Market & finance support: Interventions to improve market access, credit linkages, technology adoption and institutional networking.
Selected outcomes
- Procurement growth (2015‑16 to 2025‑26): From ₹99.37 crore (0.07%) to ₹3,738.34 crore (1.59%); ~37‑fold increase in value.
- Firm examples: Safety & Security Engineering (WB) won tenders totalling ₹8.48 lakh; Renergy Solution (Assam) enhanced renewable‑sector procurement readiness; Sawalaram Enterprises secured a ₹5.10 lakh SAIL tender.
IASPOINT Booster Facts
- Performance metric: Annual procurement value and percentage share of total public procurement from SC/ST MSEs.
- BAP focus areas: Market linkages, proposal/tender readiness, pricing and compliance documentation.
- Scope: Nationwide scheme targeting enterprise sustainability, resilience and visibility in government contracting.