New Delhi, Mar 25 (KNN) The number of micro-enterprises set-up under Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) has witnessed a decline in FY20 from the preceding year.

According to government data, from 73,427 PMEGP micro-enterprises set-up in FY19, the number contracted by 9.2 per cent to 66,653 in FY20.

The estimated employment generated through the beneficiary units simultaneously also declined from 5.87 lakh in FY19 to 5.33 lakh in FY20. The year-on-year (YoY) decline had followed the jump in the number of micro firm set-up and estimated people employed from 48,398 and 3.87 lakh respectively in FY18.

“PMEGP is a major credit-linked subsidy programme aimed at generating self-employment opportunities through setting up of micro-enterprises in the non-farm sector by helping traditional artisans and rural/urban unemployed youth. Under the scheme, to set up new units, beneficiaries can avail loan up to Rs 25 lakh in the manufacturing sector and Rs 10 lakh in the service sector, with subsidy of 15 per cent to 35 per cent for different categories,” MSME Minister Nitin Gadkari said sharing PMEGP data in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha. The scheme was launched in 2008.