Issues and challenges faced by micro, small and medium enterprises in Goa-Case study

MSME forms the backbone of the Indian manufacturing sector and has become the engine of economic growth in India in general and Goa in particular. With the halt in mining activities for the past few years, the role of MSMEs are gaining importance as they provide employment to a large number of people due to their labour intensive technology. But MSMEs faces a lot of challenges. Hence the main objective of this paper is to find out whether poor financing and lack of managerial skill constitutes the major challenges faced by MSME sector in Goa. The paper adopted a descriptive research design using 120 randomly selected registered MSMEs in Goa. Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics while formulated hypothesis were tested using z-test. Results from the data analysis indicated that poor financing and lack of managerial skill constitute a major challenge confronting MSMEs in Goa. Hence is was suggested that the government should take certain steps like Provision of soft loans, act as a guarantor of long-term loans, Establishment of a funding agency, Provision of tax incentives, etc. which will help in creating a conducive industrial climate for the growth of MSMEs in Goa.