NEW DELHI: Get ready for a breath of fresh air for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs)! A top-level committee led by NITI Aayog member Rajiv Gauba has cooked up 17 sizzling reforms designed to make life smoother for small businesses. The focus is on making credit easy, cutting compliance burdens, simplifying tax rules, settling payment disputes faster, and relaxing CSR donations. The experts are shaking up the game! To help MSMEs get credit quickly, the panel wants to expand the Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE). This means even medium-sized manufacturers will get a brand-new safety net for loans. Plus, they suggest extending credit guarantee cover to payments on the Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS). This will turbocharge cash flow because businesses get paid faster. MSMEs have often wrestled with slow government payments or endless legal fights when awards are delayed. The committee said enough is enough! They propose amending the MSME Development Act to force a big pre-appeal deposit: 75% of the arbitration award must be deposited before a challenge. Also, at least 50% of money due to micro and small suppliers should be released within six months. To quicken dispute resolution, the panel wants to appoint a single arbitrator instead of a bunch of them. Here’s a juicy relief for small firms that hate CSR mandates. The committee recommends exempting all micro and small companies from the mandatory Corporate Social Responsibility rules under the Companies Act. Right now, CSR applies if companies cross certain profit, turnover, or net worth limits. But those old rules will get a makeover to free tiny businesses. The panel also suggests trimming the mandatory board meetings for MSMEs – down from two per year to just one. They want to stop forcing auditor appointments for companies with less than Rs 1 crore turnover. For tax audits, the exemption limit will jump from Rs 1 crore to Rs 2 crore, but only if cash receipts exceed 5%. These tight yet exciting reforms have clear timelines and are now buzzing through ministries for a green light. If approved, MSMEs can finally breathe easy with less red tape and quicker payments. This bold roadmap might just be the rocket fuel Indian small businesses need to zoom ahead!