Census of unregistered SMEs underway

After completing the fourth census of registered micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Uttarakhand recently, the department of industries is facing another arduous task — that of surveying unregistered units.

The survey will cover non-agricultural enterprises in the hill state, which comprises 337 villages and 13 towns, where industrialisation has gathered momentum during the past three to five years mainly owing to the Central industrial package that offers a variety of tax benefits.

The largest number of villages (75) to be surveyed will be in Pauri district.

The 13 towns which have been selected under the national economic survey include Gangotri in Uttarkashi district, Badrinath in Chamoli, Vikasnagar in Dehradun, Rudraprayag in Rudraprayag, Almora Cantt in Almora and DD Haat in Pithoragarh.

Enumerators are looking to complete the survey by the end of the month. The survey of Uttarkashi district has already been completed, said S C Nautiyal, additional director, Industries.

“We will try to understand the health of the units in the unregistered sector and create a database with respect to the number of enterprises, employment, cluster, production, extent of closure/sickness and other relevant economic parameters,” said Nautiyal. Data on enterprises owned by women and social organisations will also be covered. Khadi, village and coir industries have also been included in this category.