**Executive Summary**
The Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) is implementing its Champions Scheme to enhance competitiveness, quality, and innovation among MSMEs. The scheme encompasses the MSME Sustainable (ZED) Certification, MSME Competitive (LEAN), and MSME Innovative (Incubation, Design & IPR) Schemes. The evaluation of the Champions Scheme is currently underway.
**Key Points / Main Content**
* **MSME Champions Scheme Objectives:**
* Promotes competitiveness, quality enhancement, and innovation among MSMEs.
* Key deliverables have achieved and exceeded stipulated targets, with ongoing evaluation.
* **Sub-Components of the Scheme:**
* **MSME Sustainable (ZED) Certification Scheme and MSME Competitive (LEAN) Scheme:** Primarily cover manufacturing MSMEs across a wide range of sectors.
* **MSME Innovative (Incubation, Design & IPR) Scheme:** A sector-agnostic approach to foster innovation through:
* Supporting innovative ideas via incubation.
* Facilitating design interventions for product development and market competitiveness.
* Assisting MSMEs in protecting and commercialising intellectual property (patents, trademarks, designs, GI registrations).
* **Benefits and Support:**
* Improved operational efficiency, quality standards, and process optimisation in MSMEs.
* Enhanced credibility of ZED-certified MSMEs, leading to improved market access and integration into supply chains.
* Graded incentives from Financial Institutions and Banks for ZED-certified MSMEs, including concessions on interest rates and processing fees, to improve credit access and support long-term growth.
* **Implementation and Scope:**
* Implementation is being undertaken across all States and Union Territories.
* Lists of covered manufacturing sectors (Annexure-I), Financial Institutions/Banks offering concessions (Annexure-II), and state-wise outcomes (Annexure-III) are provided.
**Impact Analysis**
* **MSMEs**
* **Impact:** Improved competitiveness, quality, innovation, operational efficiency, and market access. Enhanced credibility through ZED certification and support for intellectual property. Better access to credit and facilitation of long-term growth.
* **Action Required:** Participate in the various components of the Champions Scheme (ZED Certification, LEAN, Incubation, Design, IPR) and leverage the incentives offered by financial institutions.
* **Financial Institutions and Banks**
* **Impact:** Opportunity to extend concessions on interest rates and processing fees to ZED-certified MSMEs, potentially increasing their customer base and supporting the MSME sector.
* **Action Required:** Offer graded incentives to ZED-certified MSMEs as listed in Annexure-II.
* **Government (Ministry of MSME)**
* **Impact:** Achievement of objectives related to promoting competitiveness, quality, and innovation among MSMEs. Successful implementation of schemes across the country.
* **Action Required:** Continue to monitor scheme progress, evaluate impact, and potentially expand support mechanisms.
Key Entities Referenced
MSME Champions Scheme: A scheme implemented by the Ministry of MSME to promote competitiveness, quality enhancement, and innovation among MSMEs.
MSME Innovative Scheme: A sector-agnostic scheme supporting innovation through incubation, design, and intellectual property protection for MSMEs.
MSME Sustainable (ZED) Certification Scheme: A component of the MSME Champions Scheme focusing on manufacturing MSMEs, aimed at enhancing sustainability and quality.
MSME Competitive (LEAN) Scheme: A component of the MSME Champions Scheme primarily for manufacturing MSMEs, focusing on competitiveness.
Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises: The government ministry responsible for implementing the MSME Champions Scheme and related initiatives.
Ministry of Micro,Small & Medium Enterprises
Ministry of MSME implements its Champions
Scheme to promotes competitiveness, quality
enhancement and innovation among MSMEs
MSME Innovative Scheme follows a sector-agnostic
approach to promote innovation; ZED certification enhances
credibility of MSMEs improving market access
Posted On: 12 MAR 2026 4:52PM by PIB Delhi
The MSME Champion Scheme has substantially progressed towards achieving its intended objectives,
with key deliverables having achieved and exceeded the stipulated targets. The evaluation of the Scheme
is currently under process, to assess its impact on the objectives of its sub-components.
The MSME Champions Scheme promotes competitiveness, quality enhancement and innovation among
MSMEs. The MSME Sustainable (ZED) Certification Scheme and MSME Competitive (LEAN) Scheme
primarily cover manufacturing MSMEs across a wide range of sectors attached at Annexure-I.
The MSME Innovative (Incubation, Design & IPR) Scheme follows a sector-agnostic approach to
promote innovation by supporting development of innovative ideas through incubation, facilitating design
interventions for product development and market competitiveness, and assisting MSMEs in protecting
and commercialising their intellectual property through support for patent, trademark, design and GI
registrations.
These initiatives contribute to improved operational efficiency, quality standards and process optimisation
in MSMEs, including manufacturing-intensive and export-oriented MSMEs. ZED certification enhances
the credibility of MSMEs, which helps in improved market access, integration with supply chains of large
industries and participation in wider markets. Further, graded incentives extended by various Financial
Institutions and Banks to ZED-certified MSMEs in the form of concessions in interest rates and
processing fees facilitate improved access to credit and support the long-term growth and sustainability of
enterprises; the list of such Financial Institutions/Banks is placed at Annexure-II. Implementation of the
Scheme and beneficiary coverage is undertaken across States and Union Territories and the state-wise
outcomes achieved under the schemes are attached at Annexure-III.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Sushri
Shobha Karandlaje in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
****
Sunil Kumar Tiwari
E-Mail – hipessi[at]gmail[dot]com
Annexure-IManufacturing Sectors Covered under the MSME Sustainable (ZED) Certification Scheme and
MSME Competitive (LEAN) Scheme
S. No. NIC Division Sector
Code
1 10 Manufacture of food products
2 11 Manufacture of beverages
3 12 Manufacture of tobacco products
4 13 Manufacture of textiles
5 14 Manufacture of wearing apparel
6 15 Manufacture of leather and related products
7 16 Manufacture of wood and products of wood and cork (except furniture);
manufacture of articles of straw and plaiting materials
8 17 Manufacture of paper and paper products
9 18 Printing and reproduction of recorded media
10 19 Manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products
11 20 Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products
12 21 Manufacture of pharmaceuticals, medicinal chemical and botanical
products
13 22 Manufacture of rubber and plastics products
14 23 Manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products
15 24 Manufacture of basic metals
16 25 Manufacture of fabricated metal products (except machinery and
equipment)
17 26 Manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products
18 27 Manufacture of electrical equipmentS. No. NIC Division Sector
Code
19 28 Manufacture of machinery and equipment (not elsewhere classified)
20 29 Manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers
21 30 Manufacture of other transport equipment
22 31 Manufacture of furniture
23 32 Other manufacturing
24 33 Repair and installation of machinery and equipment
Annexure-II
List of Banks/Financial Institutions extending concessions in interest rates & processing fees to ZED
certified MSMEs
S. No. Bank/Financial Institution
1 North East Small Finance Bank
2 ICICI Bank
3 YES Bank
4 ESAF Small Finance Bank
5 Fusion Micro Finance
6 Punjab National Bank
7 State Bank of India
8 Central Bank of India
9 Bank of Maharashtra
10 Bank of Baroda
11 The Federal Bank
12 AU Small Finance Bank13 Canara Bank
14 Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI)
15 UCO Bank
16 HDB Financial Services Limited
17 Bank of India
18 Union Bank of India
19 Karur Vysya Bank Limited
Annexure-III
State-Wise Outcomes Achieved Under the Schemes (as on 09.02.2026)
S. State/UT ZED LEAN Incubation Design IPR
No. Certified Certified Ideas Projects Reimbursement
1 Andaman and Nicobar 2 0 0 0 0
Islands
2 Andhra Pradesh 17638 472 129 0 181
3 Arunachal Pradesh 3 0 3 0 0
4 Assam 4261 213 6 2 8
5 Bihar 22144 2016 14 1 13
6 Chandigarh 714 0 7 0 0
7 Chhattisgarh 5189 176 13 0 7
8 Delhi 6048 242 16 0 85
9 Goa 27 10 3 0 4
10 Gujarat 96423 1572 45 0 778
11 Haryana 19462 1573 13 4 147
12 Himachal Pradesh 2849 60 2 0 313 Jammu And Kashmir 8793 278 4 3 3
14 Jharkhand 2291 133 11 3 6
15 Karnataka 66363 1171 98 23 132
16 Kerala 5314 268 31 1 148
17 Ladakh 8 0 0 0 0
18 Lakshadweep 0 0 0 0 0
19 Madhya Pradesh 18529 1567 22 2 57
20 Maharashtra 43299 2676 87 7 475
21 Manipur 9 25 0 0 0
22 Meghalaya 39 6 4 0 0
23 Mizoram 0 0 0 0 0
24 Nagaland 67 129 0 0 0
25 Odisha 13454 89 47 1 78
26 Puducherry 384 18 3 0 1
27 Punjab 20726 770 15 2 33
28 Rajasthan 28289 1016 39 1 160
29 Sikkim 1 0 0 0 0
30 Tamil Nadu 17236 1061 508 1 47
31 Telangana 13259 278 162 2 580
32 The Dadra and Nagar 505 18 0 0 0
Haveli and Daman
and Diu
33 Tripura 336 65 1 0 034 Uttar Pradesh 103228 1961 67 16 126
35 Uttarakhand 1290 96 11 0 19
36 West Bengal 8959 650 57 0 52
Total 5,27,139 18,609 1,418 69 3,143
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