Guwahati: The government is focussing on providing support to existing small units and encouraging creation of such enterprises, Union Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises K H Muniyappa said on Wednesday.
“The mission of our Ministry is to promote growth and development of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, including khadi, village and coir industries, in cooperation with concerned ministries, departments, state governments and other stakeholders,” he said at a high-level meeting with Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and senior officials here.
The Minister said the MSME Ministry wants to reach out to the young and educated people to set up new enterprises.
Muniyappa asked the Chief Minister to instruct deputy commissioners to prepare the list of beneficiaries within a time-frame of three months for extending loan assistance and banks have been instructed to advance loans to such enterprises without asking for collateral guarantee.
Gogoi directed officials to take up the matter with the deputy commissioners for submission of the list of beneficiaries within the stipulated time.
The Union Minister said the margin money for khadi and village industries would be raised from Rs 66 crore to Rs 100 crore which would benefit 12,000 beneficiaries during 2013-14.
Appreciating the initiative, the Chief Minister said the government which has all along laid emphasis on the development of the small and medium scale industries, would set aside more funds for khadi and village industries next financial year as it has huge potential in generating employment opportunities.
Muniyappa further said Assam had a poor rate of credit ratio and he would ask the banks to enhance the flow of credit to MSMEs. “All the commercial banks should achieve a 20 per cent growth in credit year-on-year to micro and small enterprises and strictly adhere to the allocation of 60 per cent thereof to micro enterprises to ensure enhanced credit flow,” he added.
The credit ratio is 40 to 50 per cent in the state, while the national average is about 70 per cent. Muniyappa praised the State Government for exceeding the physical target under Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP).
MSME Additional Secretary and Development Commissioner Amarendra Sinha said the ministry has called for strict implementation of RBI norms for micro and small units – a move that can boost the financing for the MSMEs.
“The MSME ministry has asked the Finance Ministry to ask banks to give collateral free loans of up to Rs 10 lakh to micro and small enterprises, which is mandatory upon them as per Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guideline,” Sinha added.
The RBI had raised the limit of collateral free loan for MSEs from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh in 2010. Sinha called for support from the state government for building up necessary infrastructure for the downstream industries coming up from the Gas Cracker Project.
Sinha also sought cooperation from the state government for implementing the Public Procurement Policy for assisting the MSMEs in increasing their market share. (PTI)