The state government is preparing to host an MSME Summit to boost Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector and promote ‘One District, One Product (ODOP)’ scheme in July third week. The summit will be corollary to UP Investors’ Summit held in lucknow in February. The ODOP was launched on January 25 this year. MSME and Khadi Industries Minister Satyadeo Pachauri said that the purpose of the summit was to give a global branding to products manufactured in the MSME sector and those under the ODOP scheme. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will hold a meeting with entrepreneurs of MSME sector in lucknow on July 10. The MSME Summit aims at propelling the Yogi government’s flagship ODOP scheme on a big scale for international branding and marketing of the theme. The ODOP seeks to promote traditional industries synonymous with respective districts of UP to spur local economy and create jobs.
The MSME sector is the backbone of UP’s industrial landscape and contributes 60 per cent to its annual industrial output. It employs around 4 crore people, generating direct economic activity worth over Rs 1 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 four years. Pachauri has directed for constituting separate committees to leverage Centrally-sponsored MSME schemes and implementation of ODOP.
To fortify industrial land bank, the government has decided to forfeit industrial plots lying vacant with original allottees, if they have failed to set up units over the past three years. The reclaimed land will be allotted afresh to new investors.
Besides, the MSME department is pursuing investment proposals received at Investors’ Summit on 21-22 February so that they can translate on the ground soon. The MSME sector has netted investment proposals worth over Rs 600 crore although aggregate commitments to the sector is much higher, considering a number of MSME proposals are clubbed under different heads, such as food processing, services etc. In all, investment commitments of Rs 4.68 lakh crore have been received. The minister said that ODOP was an ambitious project of the government and the department was also gearing up for a publicity and branding blitzkrieg for creating awareness about different schemes and attracting investors. UP is uniquely famous for product-specific traditional industrial hubs across 75 districts, namely, 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. Yogi has espoused ODOP theme and astutely mentioned it at different platforms to underline his pro-industry and pro-employment agenda.