Parliament watch: 18,154 MSMEs closed till June; MSME jobs see over 16% uptick & more

A total of 18,154 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) had shut down as of June 2026, affecting employment of 125,114 people, minister of state for MSMEs Shobha Karandlaje informed the Lok Sabha on Thursday. MSME closures increased to 62,747 in FY26 from 39,446 in FY25 while the number of jobs affected rose to 3,70,493 from 2,60,116.

MSME Jobs See over 16% Uptick

Employment in micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) increased 16.5% year-on-year to 80.5 million in FY26 from 69.1 million in FY25, minister of state for MSMEs Shobha Karandlaje informed the Lok Sabha on Thursday. The trading sector accounted for the highest employment at 29.8 million, followed by services (25.7 million) and manufacturing (25 million). Among states, Uttar Pradesh employed the largest MSME workforce at 11.9 million.


Highway Project Delays Invite Rs 2,732 cr Penalty

A cumulative penalty of about `2,732 crore has been imposed upon the contractors or concessionaires for delay in execution, against which `780 crore has been recovered, over the last three financial years, road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari said in response to a question in the Lok Sabha.

e-Registrations Cross 10 Lakh

The total number of platform workers registered on the eShram portal as of July 19 stood at 10.83 lakh, minister of state for labour and employment, Shobha Karandlaje, said in the Rajya Sabha. While 23,746 workers were enrolled in 2023, 25,255 were enrolled in 2024, and 4,58,026 were enrolled in 2025.

Unsafe e-Rickshaw Apps Flagged

The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has received reports of safety concerns involving electric three-wheelers (e-rickshaws) and has identified the mobile apps that can be used to power off the batteries of e-rickshaws abruptly, and reported to MeitY to remove the apps from application stores, road minister Nitin Gadkari informed the Lok Sabha.