President Ram Nath Kovind will inaugurate MSME summit for promoting the `One district one product’ scheme here on August 10. The summit to boost micro, small and medium enterprises would be corollary to the UP investor’s summit held here on February. The ODOP designed to promote traditional industries and spur local economy. The ODOP scheme seeks international branding was launched on January 25 this year. 

The MSME and Khandi and village, industries minister Satyadeo Pachauri said that the summit is being organized to boost the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises sector.  The summit aims at propelling  Yogi Adityanath government’s  flagship ‘One District, One Product’ scheme on a big scale for international branding and marketing of the theme. The ODOP seeks to promote traditional industries synonymous with the respective districts of UP to spur local economy and create jobs. The aim of the ODOP is optimising the production, productivity and income, preservation and development of local crafts/skills and promotion of the art and improvement in product quality and skill development.

MSME sector is the backbone of UP’s industrial landscape and contributes 60% to its annual industrial output. It employs around 4 crore people, generating direct economic activity worth Rs 1.2 lakh crore annually. The state is home to over 50 lakh MSMEs and the sector is the second largest employer after agriculture, making it imperative for any development roadmap, especially in the backdrop of the government targeting to generate 20 lakh jobs in the next 4 years.

The MSME minister has directed for constituting separate committees to leverage centrally sponsored MSME schemes and implementation of ODOP. To fortify industrial land bank, the government has also decided to forfeit industrial plots lying vacant with original allottees, if they had failed to set up units over the past 3 years. The reclaimed land would be allotted afresh to new investors.

Besides, the MSME department is pursuing investment proposals received at the Investors Summit in February, so that they translate on the ground soon. The MSME sector had netted investment proposals worth over Rs 60,000 crore , although aggregate commitments to the sector was much higher, considering a number of MSME proposals were clubbed under different heads, such as food processing, services etc. In all, investment commitments of Rs 4.68 lakh crore were signed during the UP Investors summit.

Meanwhile, Pachauri has warned officials against laxity in ODOP scheme underlining it was an ambitious project of the government. Next month, the state plans to distribute loans to about 10,000 youth for setting up their MSME start-ups. The department is also gearing up for publicity and branding blitzkrieg for creating awareness about different schemes and attracting investors on the back of fresh policies announced by the government.

UP is uniquely famous for product specific traditional industrial hubs across 75 districts viz. Varanasi (Banarasi silk sari), Bhadohi (carpet), lucknow (chikan), Kanpur (leather goods), Agra (leather footwear), Aligarh (lock), Moradabad (brassware), Meerut (sports goods), Saharanpur (wooden products) etc.

Adityanath has espoused ODOP theme and astutely mentions it at different platforms to underline his pro-industry and pro-employment agenda. The government wants to aid the district-specific industries and products gain national and international recognition through proper branding, marketing support and easy credit. The Yogi Adityanath is promoting ‘Make in UP’ on the lines of ‘Make in India’.