Over 5 lakh employment opportunities created during 2018-19, Gadkari informs Lok Sabha

New Delhi, Feb 7 (KNN) Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Nitin Gadkari has said that 5, 87,416 employment opportunities were created during the year 2018-19.
 
''5, 87,416 employment opportunities were created by giving margin money subsidy of Rs. 2070 crore to 73,427 projects during the year 2018-19,'' Gadkari informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply on Thursday.
 
The Ministry of MSME implements credit linked subsidy scheme namely Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) to promote self-employment opportunities through establishment of micro-enterprises in non-agriculture sector.
 
''Government of India also implements Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY) to provide collateral free loans upto Rs 10 lakh,'' Gadkari added.
 
In another reply, MSME Minister informed the Lok Sabha that 154 Clusters when approved during 2018-20 against a target of 100 under Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (SFURTI) to promote traditional Industries and Artisan.
 
''In the year 2018-19, 70 proposals and in 2019-20 (till 31.01.2020), 84 proposals have been approved, which is a substantial jump over the period from 2014-15 to 2017-18, when against a target of 71 clusters to be set up during 12th Five Year Plan period, 72 clusters were approved till 2017-18,'' he informed.
 
He also added that these clusters have been setup across the country including in NER and Andaman and Nicobar.  As many as 54 clusters have become functional so far, out of which 51 clusters were made operational during 2019-20.
 
The sectors covered under SFURTI include Khadi products, Honey & related products, Coir & related products, Handloom, Traditional dress making, Handicraft, Traditional arts like – Kalamkari, Dokra art, Aipan art, Food processing, Bamboo products etc.
 
The Minister also informed that the main objective of the SFURTI scheme is to organize the traditional industries and artisans into clusters to make them competitive, provide support for their long term sustainability, to provide sustained employment for traditional industry artisans & rural entrepreneurs, to enhance marketability of products etc.
 
Gadkari further stated that the scheme was revamped in 2014-15 and further revised in 2017-18. Under the revised scheme, two types of clusters are set up. The maximum financial assistance provided is Rs 2.50 crore for a Regular Cluster (upto 500 artisans) and Rs 5.00 crore for a Major Cluster (more than 500 artisans).
 
To expand the reach of the scheme, 20 more Nodal Agencies have been appointed under the scheme during 2019-20 besides the existing 8 Nodal Agencies. KVIC has also been asked to develop Honey clusters as per SFURTI Guidelines.

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