In a significant development benefiting Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), various Ministries and Departments of the Government of India have approved over 10,000 claims from MSMEs under the Vivad se Vishwas - I scheme, according to a press release by Ministry of Finance.

This initiative was designed to offer relief to MSMEs during the challenging period of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, more than Rs 256 crore has been disbursed to MSMEs, and there has been an increased flow of bank credit due to the release of guarantees, the release said.

The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) has provided the highest relief, totaling Rs 116.47 crore, which includes both settled claims and amounts paid by agencies under MoPNG's administrative control.

The other top ministries are the Ministry of Railways with Rs 79.16 crore disbursed for 2,090 claims, the Ministry of Defence disbursed Rs 23.45 crore for 424 claims, Ministry of Steel disbursed Rs 14.48 crore for 244 claims and the Ministry of Power disbursed Rs 6.69 crore for 119 claims.

The Vivad se Vishwas I – Relief for MSMEs scheme was introduced in the Budget Speech 2023-24 by the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

The Ministry of Finance launched the scheme through the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal on 17 April 2023. The deadline for submitting relief claims on the GeM portal under the scheme was 31 July 2023. A dedicated portal was created on GeM for this purpose.

The Department of Expenditure provided comprehensive instructions regarding the scheme and the claims process on 11 April 2023. The scope of the scheme was subsequently expanded to include works procurement and earning contracts.

The scheme offered relief in the form of a 95 per cent refund of deducted performance security, bid security, and liquidated damages. Additionally, relief was extended to MSMEs that had been debarred due to contract execution defaults.