New Delhi, Jan 1 (KNN) The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) has approved as many as 111 proposals of clusters under ‘Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries’ (SFURTI), said Giriraj Singh, Union Minister for MSME.

In a written reply to Lok Sabha, Singh said “Under the scheme, financial assistance is provided for development of Khadi, coir and village industries clusters.”

For major clusters with more than 500 artisans the budget limit is Rs 5 crore and for regular clusters with upto 500 artisans, the budget limit is Rs 2.5 crore, he added.

He further mentioned that during the last three years, Rs 13,847.817 lakh have been spent by the SFURTI clusters, with the number of artisans and beneficiaries reaching nearly 72,400 persons.

The MSME Minister further said the scheme ‘Steering Committee’ chaired by Secretary MSME, reviews the progress of approved clusters periodically.

CSR and Multilateral Development Bank’s resources have yet not been leveraged under SFURTI Scheme, the Minister added.

An online portal for SFURTI Scheme is operational which is updated regularly for monitoring its effective implementation. The SFURTI scheme revamped in 2015 will continue till 2019-20.