At a regional conclave of MSMEs from states of Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Uttrakhand, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, Mishra said “the idea behind such conclave is to have firsthand account of whether policies and programmes of the centre percolate down the order in the state.”
He said the one-page online registration ‘Udyog Aadhar Memorandum’ launched in September last year, has so far attracted 2.4 lakh entrepreneurs.
Describing MSMEs as “backbone of the country” Mishra said it provided 11 crore jobs and accounts 48 per cent of manufacturing. The focus of his ministry is to create cluster of industry in villages to step MSME development.
Highlighting the role of Technology Centres/Tool Rooms in skill development for MSMEs, Mishra said Rs 2000 crore will be spent on creating new technology centres.
Two Tool Rooms are functioning in Ludhiana and Jalandhar while 15 new Technology Centres would be set up with the assistance of World Bank including four in Baddi (HP), Rohtak (Haryana), Sitarganj (Uttarakhand) and Ghatti (J and K), he said.
He said that the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) provides margin money subsidy for setting up of micro enterprises for employment generation.
He said Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) is best for MSMEs as it is collateral free.
He said that new schemes like SFRUTI and ASPIRE have been launched. “22 Livelihood Business Incubators and two Technology Business Incubators have been approved under the ASPIRE.
The Minister also met several CPSUs of the region and discussed various issues on implementation of Public Procurement Policy Order 2012 for MSMEs. He was unhappy that CPSUs were nowhere near their mandatory 20 per cent procurement from MSMEs.
Mishra also laid the foundation stone of Rs 102.32 crore for Tool Room renamed as Technological Development Centre (TDC) of Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises at Baddi in Solan district in Himachal Pradesh. The HP Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh participated in the function.
He said similar technology centres were coming up in Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Uttrakhand and other places. More than one lakh youth would be trained in those centres.
The Tool Room will provide quality training to the youth which would also be eco-friendly, he added.
He also requested the Union Minister to re-store the Industrial package which had expired on January, 2013 and said that issue had been raised many a times with the union government for extension of the Central incentive package.