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UP drew ₹4-lakh-crore investments in MSMEs since 2017, says minister
Around 2.6 crore people have got direct and indirect employment opportunities in Uttar Pradesh, the MSME minister added.
Uttar Pradesh minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Sidharth Nath Singh said on Thursday that the identity of the state has transformed due to the flexible attitude of the government towards industries, and turned it into an emerging backbone of India’s industrial hub.
“It is because of the various proactive measures taken by the state government towards transforming the state into a favourable place for industries to grow such as ODOP because of which the exports of UP have skyrocketed by 35%,” Singh said during a virtual interaction with the media.
He added that loans worth ₹2.5-lakh-crore were disbursed to the MSMEs in four years, due to which a thumping investment of about ₹4-lakh-crore has come into the state. "Around 2.6 crore people have got direct and indirect employment opportunities," Singh said.
He went on to say that the MSME sector of UP generates employment opportunities and has emerged as the backbone of industrialisation.
"In 2017, when the BJP government took over the reins of the state, a roadmap was prepared to fix the rural economy. An innovative initiative called ‘ODOP’ was rolled out in 2018 while Common Facility Centers (CFCs) have been set up in 40 out of all 75 districts of the state," the minister outlined.
The minister said that during the first wave of Covid-19, industries related to essential commodities and export units continued to operate in the state. "Whereas during the second wave a partial corona curfew was imposed, in which industries and businesses operated as usual," he further said, addding, "The New MSME Act 2020 got implemented amid the ongoing pandemic itself, under which no-objection certificates are being given in 72 hours and exemption from various types of licenses has been given for around 1,000 days."
Singh said that work is being done on cluster development by connecting CFCs. In this, eminent fashion designers of the country have been associated with the cluster. Along with this, the Quality Control of India has also been added.
Navneet Sehgal, additional chief secretary, MSME said, “ODOP is a big reason for the increase in the exports of UP. For this, efforts were made at every level and an export policy was formulated. Export Development Center has been set up at the district level. The export of the state was ₹88,967 crore in 2017-18, which has increased by 35 percent i.e. ₹1,21,139 crore in 2020-21.
