New Delhi, 29 Nov (KNN) The Winter session of Parliament began today and the Standing Finance Committee has approved the MSME Champions Scheme with a total outlay of INR 273.24 crore.

A ‘Digital MSME’ component has been included for digital empowerment of MSMEs in the country, as part of this Scheme.

In addition to this, there are several Technology Centres under the Ministry are also assisting on technological and automation interventions along with training support, said the official release.  

The Standing Finance Committee has also approved the International Cooperation Scheme comprising of First Time Exporters and Global Marketing Intelligence System with a total outlay of INR 90 crore.

Narayan Rane, Union Minister of MSME in a written reply to Rajya Sabha today said that, the Ministry is operating two schemes for setting up business incubators in educational institutes to facilitate innovation. These are “Support for Entrepreneurial and Managerial Development of MSMEs through Incubators Scheme” and ASPIRE (A Scheme for Promotion of Innovation, Rural Industry & Entrepreneurship) Scheme.

The Government is taking necessary steps through the Digital MSME Scheme to empower and enable MSMEs to harness IT as a medium of communication to revamp access to the markets to update their managerial and technical knowledge though online content–both static and dynamic, said the official release.

It also aims to give them software interventions, evolving their internal efficiencies by way of intense ICT intake and automating procedure for cost reduction, imparting digital literacy and capacity enhancement for information access, processing, collaboration and dissemination.

To offer to the MSMEs a safe and sound bouquet of customised digital solutions which have been designed keeping in mind the diverse requirements of the eco-system, saving them from the travails of indiscreet and indiscriminate adoption of technology, is also a chief objective of the Ministry of MSME.