Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday asked the private sector to clear dues of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) within 45 days.

Conceding that the Centre, state governments and state-owned enterprises have outstanding dues to the MSME sector, Sitharaman said the private sector also has dues to such small businesses from where it avails goods and services.

Sitharaman said, in her meeting with big businesses two days ago, she appealed to them to ensure that the dues of smaller businesses who are the backbone of the economy are cleared in time.

" The private sector and industry should commit to make the payments in 45 days along with the books of accounts filed with the Registrar of Companies which make mention of outstanding dues. The private sector should also be ahead in this issue, the minister said at an event organized by Laghu Udyog Bharati, the RSS-affiliate devoted to small businesses, here.

She also said the central government too will be taking steps to resolve the issue by ensuring that departments and central public sector enterprises make the payments to small businesses in 90 days.

The minister also appealed to state governments and the public sector enterprises which they run to clear the dues in time.

Stating that her ministerial colleagues also frequently bring up the issue of accumulation of dues of MSMEs, Sitharaman highlighted the government schemes like TREDS (trade receivables discounting system) platform and also the Samadhan portal.