UP posts 100% growth in MSME sector; project count hits 14 mn: Export panel

Uttar Pradesh is poised to hit the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) count of 14 million by 2021-22, up more than 50 per cent from the figure of 9 million in 2017-18.

At present, the MSME sector contributes 65 per cent of the state’s annual industrial output and is the second biggest employer after agriculture.

According to the data released by the MSME export promotion council (MSME EPC) in Lucknow on Monday, UP posted 100 per cent growth in the MSME sector between 2015-16 and 2017-18 from about 4.4 million units to 9 million.

“The state of UP has been on an average adding 1.5 million new MSME units every year since 2015-16, and providing jobs to more than 16.5 million people, including almost 2.8 million women,” MSME EPC chairman D S Rawat said here.

Further, he underlined if the growth momentum continued, the sector would touch the MSME count of 14 million in the next 2 years, providing direct employment to about 30 million people in UP.

Meanwhile, the MSME panel has proposed to partner the state government in drawing up a five-year roadmap, envisaging upping the total number of MSMEs in UP to almost 30 million by 2025 and providing direct and indirect employment for 100 million and 120 million people respectively.

Rawat further said the MSME EPC has also suggested the Yogi Adityanath government to institute a dedicated financing agency to ease the funding issues for the beleaguered sector.

“There is an urgent need to create an MSME Development Finance Corporation in UP, since the existing funding agencies such as UP Finance Corporation (UPFC) are lying defunct,” he told Business Standard.

Referring to UP’s flagship one district, one product (ODOP) scheme, which is aimed at promoting the traditional and indigenous industries, Rawat said the government should integrate the programme with the MSME policy for greater benefits of scale and leverage.

“At present, the domestic MSME sector is facing the challenges of easy credit and marketing support to compete in the market, which is also flooded with cheap imported goods,” he added.

To help the sector, the MSME EPC has further announced a 4-day summit and trade fair on ‘Agro-Rural Entrepreneurship: Unleashing Opportunities for Youth, Women and Artisans’ on February 13-16, 2020 in Lucknow, followed by ‘SC-ST Entrepreneurship and Women Empowerment’ in Eastern UP in May 2020.