Central govt earmarks Rs 1000 crore for MSME sector in Northeast region

New Delhi, Aug 21 (KNN) The Centre has earmarked Rs 1,000 crore for implementation of schemes under the micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) sector in the Northeast in the current fiscal, said M. Sreenivasulu, Director of MSME-DI Guwahati.

Underlining the importance of MSMEs, he said MSMEs are significantly present in all states and union territories and are the second largest employer after agriculture in the country.

He said, many of the MSMEs remain deprived of the benefits of welfare scheme run by MSME ministry because of lack of awareness at grassroots level.

“We have to make people aware of the schemes and benefits being provided by the Centre so that more people can avail of it”, he added.

"We are primarily engaged in implementation of various schemes for self-employment among unemployed youths of Assam as well as promotion and development of MSME sector in the region”, said Sreenivasulu.

He said that the schemes aim to alleviate poverty and unemployment by setting up micro and small-scale manufacturing service or business enterprises.

“We also aim to develop existing MSME units for enhancement of GDP and export turnover of the country," he added.

The director made special mention of the Credit Guarantee Fund Scheme (CGF) and the Prime Minister's Employment Generation Program (PMEGP).

He also said that that the schemes of the Ministry are central sector schemes in which specific percentage of the budgetary allocation are earmarked for SCs, STs and northeastern region’s population.

MSME-DI Guwahati, established in 1958, promotes development of micro and small enterprises in Assam, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh through six branch institutes - Tezpur, Silchar, Diphu, Itanagar, Shillong and Tura.