January 4, 2015
MSME Sector: Backbone of Bengal’s Growth
Mirco Small Medium Enterprise (MSME) sector contributes nearly 8% of the GDP nationally, 45% of manufacturing outputs and 40% of exports. They provide the highest employment after agriculture.
West Bengal has the second largest number of MSME enterprises. It has 36.64 lakh enterprises which constitute about 10% of total Indian MSME enterprises. With an output of Rs 78,880 lakh crore it represents an important sector of West Bengal’s economy.
During the last 30 months, 29,735 new industries have been set-up, with an investment of Rs 2,595 crore, This has resulted in employment generation to the tune of 2,02,245 jobs.
Actions speak louder than words:
- Policy for medium, micro and small-scale, and textile, industries, 2013-18 has been announced.
- More than 29 thousand new enterprises have been set up with and investment in 2595 crore and expected employment generation of more than 2 lakh people.
- Incentives of worth of Rs 191 crore have been provided. In terms of credit allotment by banks the amount stands at 8900 crore in the first month of the FY 2013-14. Both in terms of growth (105%)of bank credit and in terms of amounts, West Bengal stands first in the nation.
- More than 5 lakhs identity card has been issued for both weavers and artisans. More than 3.8 lakh weavers have been register in health insurance schemes.
- Various Marketing hubs, clusters, common facility centers have been set up. Biswa Bangla Haats have been opened in Durgapur and Rajarhat and in Santiniketan, Purulia, Bishnupur, Alipurduar, Siliguri and Jhargram more haats are in the process of opening.
- Three new industrial hubs have been opened and construction work going on for Mega Textile Park in Belur, Silk Park in Malda, Eco-tourism Park in Banarhat and World Micro Market in Santiniketan.
- 16 Common Facility centres (CFC) have been created and 17 clusters have been created.
- 20 lakh man days have been generated in handloom sector and Rs 194 crore has been invested for 5 lakh handloom weavers.
- A programme has been initiated under National Fibre Mission (NFM) to invest Rs 257 crore for 17,000 artisans and weavers in 11 underdeveloped districts.
- Technology Facilitation Centre (TFC) has been started with co-operation of CSIR in Kolkata for MSME. Design Facilitation Centre (DFC) has been created in Kolkata for handloom weavers.
While the country performed abysmally with a 0.7% growth rate in the industrial sector, constant focus on the MSME sector has been a major factor in West Bengal’s achievement of a 9.58% industrial growth rate in the financial year 2013-14.
Come to Bengal… Ride the growth: bengalglobalsummit.com
