World over, the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises have been recognized as engines of economic growth. The role of MSMEs in the economic and social development of our country is well established. The MSME sector is a nursery of entrepreneurship, often driven by individual creativity and innovation. Thus, MSMEs are important for the national objectives of growth with equity and inclusion. The MSME sector contributes about 9 per cent of the country's GDP, 45 per cent of the manufactured output and 40 per cent of its exports. The MSMEs provide employment to over 60 million persons through more than 26 million enterprises with a lower labour to capital ratio. The overall growth in the MSME sector has been much higher than in the large industries over the last five years. Although Indian MSMEs are a bedrock for innovation and despite being a diverse and heterogeneous group they face some common challenges with regard to access to institutional credit, collateral requirements, equity capital, et