Guwahati, Sep 19: In a bid to revamp the MSME sector in the state, the Assam government on Monday signed MoUs with Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) and SIDBI Venture Capital for Assam Startup Venture Fund.
The MoUs were signed at an MSME conclave held here.
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma also launched the Assam Logistics and Warehousing Policy 2022 at the conclave. The policy is an initiative in making Assam a regional logistics hub to augment economic development of the state.
Speaking on the occasion, Sarma termed the day as a red letter day for the industry sector of the state as the MoUs would lead to rapid industrialisation and revamp of the MSME sector.
The chief minister said that the collaboration with CGTMSE aims at providing additional guarantee coverage for the loans given by lending institutions to the MSMEs in Assam.
He said that under the scheme, 80 percent of the guarantee coverage of loan would be provided by CGTMSE while the balance 20 percent coverage would come from the state government.
Referring to SIDBI’s estimate, a corpus support of Rs 100 crore will lead to a portfolio creation of Rs 5000 crore and the yearly fund requirement from the state government would be around Rs 22 crore to Rs 26 crore in the next three years.
The chief minister also said that under another MoU signed with SIDBI, the SIDBI Venture Capital Fund (SVCL) intends to work as an investment manager for the proposed Assam Start-up Venture Capital Fund.
SIDBI through its subsidiary, SVCL as the partner for the Assam Start-up Venture Capital Fund, shall facilitate development of a comprehensive plan in association with the state government for an organised development and growth of the start-ups including MSMEs in the state.
SVCL shall establish the Assam Start up Venture Fund with a total corpus of Rs 200 crore.
Sarma also appealed to the young entrepreneurs to boost their efforts to develop a robust MSME ecosystem in Assam. He said that in view of today’s cut-throat competition in the consumer market, it is high time that MSMEs modernise their applications and improve the quality of products which are essential for survival in the national and international markets.
Giving a brief scenario of the MSME sector in Assam, the chief minister said that there are more than 66,000 industries which contribute 29 percent to the state GDP.
“Out of these industrial units, 88 percent is micro while 11.5 percent is small and medium industries. This means that MSMEs constitute 99.5 percent of the industrial sector of the state,” he said.
He further informed that during 2016 to 2021, 32,770 MSMEs were established in Assam. Out of these, 13,440 enterprises are engaged in the production sector where 1,30,294 youths have got employment.