The MSME Export Promotion Council has suggested to the state government to draft a fresh MSME Policy for micro and small units for utilising the vast employment potential in the sector.
As per projections of the Council, the setting up of three crore MSMEs could create direct employment for 10 crore youths and indirect employment for 12 crore people in the next five years.
The Council has drawn a roadmap for the development of MSME sector in Uttar Pradesh.
In its suggestions, the Council said that the two main problems facing the MSME sector was flooding of Indian market with cheap imported goods from China and other countries and credit crunch.
The Council recommended that a MSME Finance Development Corporation be set up in UP to finance the sector and to link it with the ambitious One District, One Product (ODOP) scheme.
These suggestions were made by the Council chairman DS Rawat in Lucknow on Monday in the presence of chairman of UP unit, Hari Narayan Rajbhar.
Later, talking to media persons, Dr Rawat said that it was only the MSME sector which could generate jobs. He said that the new MSME Policy should address only micro and small units.
Dr Rawat said that UP registered 100 per cent growth in micro, small and medium enterprises between 2015 to 2018 and their numbers rose from 44.03 lakh units to 88.89 lakh units.
The Council chairman, who also released a study on MSME sector in Uttar Pradesh, claimed that UP was in the top position both in numbers and employment.
“UP has been adding on an average 15 lakh MSME units per year since 2015-16 and they are providing jobs to over 165 lakh people, including 27.27 lakh females. If the growth pattern remains the same, it is expected that by 2022, the number of MSME units could touch 1.40 crore, providing jobs to three crore people,” he said.
The MSME Export Council chairman said that a roadmap for five years till 2025 had been prepared, targeting three crore units and direct jobs to 10 crore people and indirect jobs to 12 crore people.
“As the unemployment rate is increasing in the country, there is need to set up of a UP MSME Finance Development Corporation to support the sector so that it becomes competitive through skill development, upgrading of technology and establishing contacts globally,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Council will hold a four-day summit and trade fair, ‘’Agra-rural entrepreneurship: unleashing opportunities for youth, women and artisans’, in Lucknow from February 13 to 16 next year.
This will be followed by a Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe Entrepreneurship and Women Empowerment summit in Purvanchal during May next year.
The Council has also proposed an ‘ Uttar Pradesh Pavilion’ at the World SMEs show in China in June next year.