Uttar Pradesh MSME exports surge 6% to Rs 890 billion during 2017-18

Yogi to meet entrepreneurs ahead of mega MSME Summit

Exports from the Uttar Pradesh Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector have clocked almost 6% growth to touch Rs 890 billion during 2017-18. 

MSME exports stood at about Rs 840 billion during 2016-17, UP Khadi, MSME and export promotion minister Satyadev Pachauri said here. 

To further boost MSME sector, the Yogi Adityanath government is planning to organise a mega Summit later this month focussed on the One District, One Product (ODOP) scheme, which is aimed at promoting the state’s traditional industries. 

In fact, Adityanath is likely to meet MSME entrepreneurs on July 10 ahead of the ODOP Summit, which follows UP Investors Summit 2018 held on 21-22 February, wherein the state government had netted investment proposals worth Rs 4.68 trillion. 

Pachauri said unlike previous regimes, the current dispensation had accorded priority to the MSME sector, which contributes 60% of its industrial output, employs 40 million people and generates direct economic activity worth Rs 1.2 trillion annually. 

The Adityanath government had launched ODOP scheme to prop up 'Make in UP' on the lines of 'Make in India'. UP is home to nearly 5 million MSMEs and the sector forms a vital cog in the state's economic development roadmap, including job creation.

He said the ODOP Summit would promote the state MSMEs through high pitch branding and marketing. The minister opined that the state’s MSME future depended heavily upon the success of ODOP and warned officials against laxity in pushing the agenda forward. UP's textile manufacturers would also organise an expo in Mumbai in near future to showcase their products.

Recently, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed with Bangladeshi entrepreneurs, which, Pachauri claimed, would pave the way for exporting industrial and other products to the neighbouring country, while similar tie-ups would be sewed up with industrial chambers of other countries too. 

Meanwhile, the government plans to establish ODOP clusters at 10 districts viz. Ambedkar Nagar, Etawah, Gautam Budh Nagar, Hapur, Barabanki, Agra, Kanpur City, Kanpur Dehat, Hamirpur and Fatehpur, state MSME secretary Bhuvnesh Kumar informed. 

Earlier, the state had also launched a dedicated ODOP website www.odop.in to promote the concept, which is expected to nurture traditional industries and create jobs, besides arresting migration of youth to bigger urban centres and metros.

UP is uniquely famous for product specific traditional industrial hubs across 75 districts viz. Varanasi (Banarasisilk sari), Bhadohi (carpet), Lucknow (chikan), Kanpur (leather goods), Agra (leather footwear), Aligarh (lock), Moradabad (brassware), Meerut (sports goods), Saharanpur (wooden products) etc. The website also showcases such authentic merchandises.

At UP Investors Summit, the MSME sector had netted 348 MoUs and investment proposals worth over Rs 60 billion, although aggregate commitments to the sector was much higher, considering a number of MSME proposals were clubbed under different heads, such as food processing, services etc.