Rs. 6 crore for ‘Khadhi Plaza’ at Agri Expo site
Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Kalraj Mishra on Friday announced Rs. 6 crore for setting up “Khadhi Plaza” at Agri Expo Site Dimapur.
Mishra also asked eight north eastern states to come up with schemes that were state-centric. Acknowledging that some Central schemes under MSME, which were applicable in other parts of the country, might not be feasible in north east region, Kalraj asked the states to work out schemes that were applicable in their respective states while assuring support from the ministry.
The union minister was addressing the one-day “Regional Conclave of MSMEs”, organised by Ministry of MSME and hosted by government of Nagaland, at Rhododendron Hall, Police Complex, Chumukedima, here. Eight states of north east India participated in the conclave. The minister also addressed a press conference later in the evening.
While pointing out most of the Central schemes were being well implemented in the north east region, Kalraj, however, said if there was any lacuna in the schemes then the ministry was ready to provide support to the state.
After reviewing the implementation of schemes of Ministry of MSME in the region, the union minister said some states were found “doing well” while some were “trying to complete”. Asserting that north east region was the focus of NDA government, Kalraj expressed the hope that the conclave would help in boosting north east chapter in general and Nagaland chapter in particular of “Make in India” launched by Prime Minister. He also assured to help the north east states to come with their own addition in the “Make in India” initiative. At the same time, he urged all officials under the Ministry to help north east states in discovering their inherent potential and setting of enterprises in the field of their natural advantage.
Kalraj further hoped that the officers would present a holistic plan document as to how the Ministry could intervene for the rapid development of the north east in the field of MSMEs.
Highlighting different schemes under MSME, Kalraj emphasized on Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMRGP) and A Scheme for Promoting Innovation and Rural Entrepreneurship (ASPIRE). He said through these schemes the ministry intended to empower the youth of north east region.
Kalraj pointed out that in PMEGP during 2015-16 (till January 31, 2016), 29174 projects have been approved, which generated total employment of 2, 11, 601. He said out of the total projects, 5092 projects have been approved for eight states of north east region, which was expected to generate 20639 employments in the region. He also said that ASPIRE was setting up Technology Business Incubators (TBI), Livelihood Business Incubators (LBI) and creation of funds of funds for such initiatives with SIDBI.
Kalraj said nine LBIs have already been approved and four such institutes have been recommended for approval by SSC in north east region. The minister also informed that the Ministry was “actively associated” with Nagaland Tool Room and Training Centre (NTTC), Dimapur and added that he was scheduled to visit the centre on Saturday.
He said the Ministry would be happy to extend help to strengthen NTTC to impart technical state of the art training to the youth. Later, the minister also released MSME magazine “Laghu Udyog Samachar”, March 2016 issue.