The State government will implement an insurance scheme to support Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) with the government bearing up to 50% of the premium amount, Industries Minister P. Rajeeve has said.
Inaugurating the MSME day celebrations here on Tuesday, he said the entrepreneurship year initiative would continue this year too, with 4,184 new ventures launched already in the current fiscal.
The government would also provide ₹1 lakh each to 1,000 select MSMEs which had completed three years for preparing projects to scale up their operations. In the next stage, the government would provide up to ₹2 crore as capital investment.
“In the past one year, the State has achieved remarkable progress in the MSME sector, with 1,39,840 new ventures being launched. When the government launched the entrepreneurship year initiatives, one of the aims was to instil confidence among entrepreneurs. We have succeeded in that. The coordination of all the departments as well as the support of the State Level Bankers’ Committee played a role in this success,” he said.
The government would also institute an award for the best performing panchayat in the MSME sector as well as the best performing MSME unit. To ensure sustainability of the MSME units, technically trained interns would conduct surveys across all units and study the issues faced by them.
MSME clinics had been opened in all regions. Under the one local body, one product scheme announced last year, 600 local bodies had already identified a product unique to their region. The government would soon provide the initial funding of ₹50,000 to each of these local bodies to prepare a detailed project report regarding this, said Mr.Rajeeve.
To encourage entrepreneurship among students and promote work along with studies, campus industrial parks would be granted to engineering colleges with at least five acres for the purpose. The policy regarding this was expected to be released in July. Mr. Rajeeve said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had granted approval for the scheme. Discussions had to be held with the Higher Education department to plan the implementation.
Transport Minister Antony Raju, who presided over the function, lauded the Industries department for utilising the State’s limited resources effectively to bring about a change in the sector.
Chief Secretary V.P. Joy, who was the chief guest, said the government had ushered in an industrial revolution in the State, which enabled MSMEs to make major strides.
