UP govt distributes loans worth Rs 1.72 trn in FY24 to boost MSME sector

The Yogi Adityanath government has distributed loans worth Rs 1.73 trillion in the current financial year (FY24) to boost the micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME) sector. The MSME advances in the first nine months (April-December 2023) of FY24 jumped 172 per cent compared to the financial year target of about Rs 1 trillion.

Spread across different segments and product lines, UP is home to more than 9 million MSMEs. The government is focusing on job creation and equitable socioeconomic growth to achieve its trillion-dollar economy goal and boost the Make in UP ecosystem.

The MSME advances clocked Rs 1.5 trillion in FY23 against the target of Rs 78,000 crore, proliferating by 191 per cent.

According to UP’s MSME Minister Rakesh Sachan, the government has launched a slew of schemes to make MSMEs globally competitive. The sector contributes 60 per cent to the state’s annual industrial output. Annual MSME exports are to the tune of Rs 1.5 trillion, which the state is targeting to double to Rs 3 trillion in the next two-three years.

“Easier credit to the MSME sector is helping the entrepreneurs and startups establish their units, and scale up operations to compete at the local and global levels. It is creating jobs,” a senior state official said. 

The composite MSME credit in UP is estimated at more than Rs 6.55 trillion over the last six-seven years. This, the government claimed, provided jobs to 25 million youngsters.

UP-based MSMEs availed of loans worth Rs 46,600 crore in FY18, Rs 57,800 crore in FY19, and Rs 71,000 crore in FY20. The total loan size increased to Rs 1.5 trillion in FY23, up from Rs 83,000 crore in FY22 and Rs 73,800 crore in FY21. 

To promote and revive traditional handicrafts and indigenous industries, the government launched the One District One Product (ODOP) scheme in 2018.