MSME ministry sets aside Rs 40 cr to train 2 lakh students

The Union ministry of Micro, Small and Medium enterprises (MSME) is planning to train 200,000 students in the next financial year, taking the total number to 600,000.

“This is part of our entrepreneurship development initiative across the country, which requires an additional funding of around Rs 40 crore,” CK Mishra, joint secretary, Union ministry of MSME, said.

He was speaking to mediapersons on the sidelines of the follow-up meet of the Entrepreneurship Development Programme (EDP) at the National Institute for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (ni-msme) here on Monday.

The follow-up meeting was organised for the students who underwent training in 2011-12. More than 400 candidates, who were trained in different trades, participated in the event.

The ministry has taken up many initiatives to foster the growth of this sector. In the ongoing 12th Five-Year Plan, the major focus will be on three areas – to help people create enterprises, help them in growing their enterprises, and for growth in manufacturing and create a marketplace. Besides, the focus will be on technology upgradation, financing and skill development, he said.

“Under skill development and entrepreneurship, we are majorly focusing on increasing the number of trainees, and increasing the number of trainees who have set up enterprises,” Mishra said.

The ministry is also working on various schemes in order to support the funding to the MSME units.

It is working on creating a marketplace and to build network around the businesses of the small industries, he said.