More than two lakh Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) have been started in the State under the Industries department’s entrepreneurship year initiative with a total investment of ₹12,537 crore and creating 4.3 lakh jobs, Industries Minister P .Rajeeve has said.
Addressing a press conference here on Friday, Mr. Rajeeve said as on December 29, a total of 2,01,518 MSMEs had been launched under the campaign, which was launched on April 1, 2022.
As many as 64,127 of the MSMEs had been started by women, while 8,752 of the entrepreneurs belonged to SC/ST categories. About 98% of the establishments had been geo-tagged and the details uploaded online for transparency. Currently, geo-tagging was being done as part of the registration process.
To provide the necessary support to entrepreneurs, 1,034 trained professionals had been appointed in local bodies across the State. MSME clinics were also being organised to address their issues. A helpdesk was being organised monthly by an organisation of chartered accountants to help them in filing GST returns.
Mr. Rajeeve said the majority of the MSMEs in the State were not insured, thus pushing the entrepreneurs into crisis after natural calamities. Now, the government had launched a comprehensive insurance scheme to protect them from various risks. The Department of Industries and Commerce had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with four public sector insurance companies for this purpose.
He said about 15% of the MSMEs were facing closure in the first year, against a national average of 30%. However, through proactive steps initiated by the department, 303 of the MSMEs which closed down had now reopened.