New Delhi, 11 Nov (KNN) Speaking on the first day of Financial Express Online’s inaugural SME Artha event, Minister Sidharth Nath Singh, said that MSMEs in Uttar Pradesh contribute 80 per cent towards the state’s exports and, it aims  to enhance its export value from INR 1.21 lakh crore annually to INR 3 lakh crore by FY27.

“Uttar Pradesh approximately 4.5 lakh micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) units have raised credit so far through Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS),” said Singh

He pressed on how the units in Uttar Pradesh took advantage of emergency credit guarantee scheme and how they used it to recover their units which were hit by the pandemic.

The state of Uttar Pradesh records nearly 90 lakh MSMEs, having the largest number of estimated small businesses with a 14.20 per cent share of 6.33 crore MSMEs in the country, as per the MSME Ministry 2020-21 annual report.

“During Covid last year and this year, we had decided not to shut our industrial units. We arranged for (movement) of their workers with mobility passes. We also ensured that they have the raw material supply by making sure vehicles carrying raw materials pass unhindered.

We also waived fixed electricity charges,” added Singh who is also the minister for Investment & Export, NRI, Textile, Handloom & Sericulture, Khadi & Gramodyog, and Vice Chairman, Invest U.P.

In context of Ease of Doing Business annual rankings, the state was ranked second in the released in September last year.

And in Logistics Ease Across Different States (LEADS) ranking this year Uttar Pradesh secured sixth position.

The Commerce Ministry released the ranking in 2018 with Gujarat, Haryana, and Punjab as top three states.

“We realised that it is not going to easy for MSMEs to perform due to covid. Hence, we announced a reform policy particularly in the labour sector wherein we removed all labour laws except two which are (related to) minimum wages and the number of hours. Many other states followed what UP did. During Covid period, we also came up with a major reform in the MSME sector. For registering an MSME unit in the state, one can get a deemed No Objection Certificate (NOC) in 72 hours by online application and within three years the MSMEs will have to obtain all the NOCs and submit to the authorities,” said Singh.