Mumbai, Underlining that India is the fourth-largest economy in the world, Union Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Jitan Ram Manjhi on Friday said that the MSMEs contribute 30.1 per cent to the country's GDP, 35.4 per cent to manufacturing and 45.73 per cent to exports, adding that along with the agriculture sector, MSMEs will play a significant role in India becoming the third-largest economy in the world by 2029.

Jitan Ram Manjhi said that the MSME sector is playing an important role in providing employment to entrepreneurs who invest less than big industries and in making them entrepreneurs. It is also working to provide training to new entrepreneurs from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in rural and urban areas and provide them with loans by providing bank guarantees.

"Through the Udyam portal, new entrepreneurs who are employed by the MSME department, the registration is done. They are being helped in Udyam Assist by providing training, getting bank loans and starting a business. So far, the MSME department has done the process of providing employment to 34 crore unemployed people in the country. Due to this, the department has fulfilled the dream of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide employment to 22 crore unemployed people," said the minister.

According to the minister, small businesses are helped through the Pradhan Mantri Vishwakarma Yojana. They are also given training through the MSME department and are given initial assistance of Rs 15,000 to set up their businesses.

Depending on the nature of their work, the standard of work and the quality of their work, assistance ranging from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 4 lakh is provided. He also said that their financial self-reliance is being increased by starting businesses at the local level.

"The Prime Minister's Employment Guarantee Scheme is being implemented in urban and rural areas to provide opportunities for self-reliance to women and youth. Under this, loans are provided after providing training to those registered on the Udyam portal. So far, 80.33 lakh jobs have been provided under the Prime Minister's Employment Guarantee Scheme," the Union Minister said.

He also said that 80 per cent of this has been provided in rural areas and 20 per cent in urban areas. The MSME department is constantly striving to empower women and make the youth self-reliant, and trained unemployed youth are guaranteed up to Rs 5 crore under the Credit Guarantee Scheme for large industries. Due to this, a large number of new entrepreneurs are coming forward in this industry, he said.

The Minister said that the National SC-ST Hub is run under the Ministry of MSME to empower entrepreneurs from SC, ST communities for entrepreneurship.

The goal is to provide procurement policies and market opportunities. They are supported by government schemes, financial aid and loans. Along with this, the government also purchases the goods produced by them when there is no demand in the market. So far, the government has purchased goods worth Rs 3,500 crore, he added.

Jitan Ram Manjhi said that the MSME is also cooperating in tool rooms and technology. Such industries are operating in Mumbai and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.

"In this too, 22,440 unemployed people have been trained so far. The department will train 10 crore unemployed people by 2029 and make them employment-oriented," he added.

--IANS

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