MSME Ministry Reviews 4% SC/ST Procurement by CPSEs

The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises held a round table discussion with Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) on 5 November 2026 at the Dr. Ambedkar International Centre in New Delhi. The purpose was to take stock of how far CPSEs have gone in meeting the 4 per cent procurement mandated from SC/ST micro and small enterprises under the Government's Public Procurement Policy.

Who took part

The meeting was chaired by Ms. Mercy Epao, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of MSME. Shri Ajit Chavan, Additional Chief Executive Officer of the Government e-Marketplace, and Dr. S. S. Acharya, Chairman-cum-Managing Director of the National Small Industries Corporation, took part along with senior officers of the Ministry, the Department of Public Enterprises and NSIC. In all, 30 CPSEs joined the discussion, among them BHEL, BEL, NTPC, AAI, BEML and Coal India Limited.

What the figures show

The Joint Secretary said the handholding done under the National SC-ST Hub (NSSH) Scheme has produced a steady rise in the share of SC/ST micro and small enterprises in public procurement. Measured against the position when the scheme began, public procurement from these enterprises had grown more than 36 times by the financial year 2025-26.

New steps announced

• A new initiative called the Entrepreneur Awareness and Special Vendor Development Program, meant to build awareness among SC/ST enterprises and connect them with CPSEs.
• CPSEs were asked to draw up internal action plans to meet the target, and to help with vendor registration and enlistment, matchmaking of products and services, regional contact with SC/ST enterprises and continued handholding.
• The Government e-Marketplace has added dedicated marketplace filters so that SC/ST sellers can be identified, and has appointed a nodal officer whose services CPSEs were urged to use.

What came out of the discussion

The round table was built around the difficulties CPSEs report and the sharing of practices that have worked, with attention to tighter coordination between the National SC-ST Hub offices, the Government e-Marketplace and the enterprises themselves. Representatives of the better performing CPSEs spoke to those lagging behind so that gaps could be identified and addressed. The Additional CEO of the e-Marketplace stressed the value of bringing sellers from a wider spread of sectors, services and industry verticals in particular, so that procurement opportunities are shared more evenly. Participants also looked at vendor development programmes, capacity building and digital facilitation as ways of raising procurement from SC/ST and women-owned micro and small enterprises.