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Centre�s bid to promote entrepreneurial spirit

By STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, Jan 30 � The Union Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, KH Muniyappa today urged upon Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi to direct the Deputy Commissioners to select the list of beneficiaries within three months and assured that the banks have been asked to provide loans without asking for collateral guarantee.

The Union Minister, who, along with senior officials of his Ministry held a meeting with Chief Minister and the Industries Minister today, said his ministry wants to reach out to the young and educated people to set up new enterprises, for which it has adequate funds. The Chief Minister directed the Chief Secretary and the Additional Chief Secretary to take up the matter with the deputy commissioners for submission of the list of beneficiaries within the stipulated time, an official release said.

The Union Minister said the margin money for khadi and village industries would be raised from Rs 66 crore to Rs 100 crore which would benefit 12,000 beneficiaries during 2013-14. Appreciating the initiative, Chief Minister Gogoi said his Government which has all along laid emphasis on the development of the small and medium scale industries, would set aside more funds for khadi and village industries during the next financial year as �it has huge potential in generating employment opportunities.� Gogoi underscored the need for special incentives for the MSMEs to ease out the unemployment problem.

On the poor credit ratio in Assam, the Union Minister said he would ask the banks to enhance the flow of credit to MSMEs. �All the commercial banks should achieve a 20 per cent growth in credit year-on-year to micro and small enterprises and strictly adhere to the allocation of 60 per cent thereof to micro enterprises to ensure enhanced credit flow,� he added. The credit ratio is 40 to 50 per cent in the State while the national average is about 70 per cent.

Muniyappa praised the State Government for exceeding the physical target under Prime Minister�s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP). The State Government has achieved 13,694 exceeding the target of 9,950 for a period of four years with the achievement being 136 per cent.

Additional Secretary and Development Commissioner, MSME, Amarendra Sinha said the ministry has called for strict implementation of RBI norms for micro and small units � a move that can boost the financing for the MSMEs.

�The MSME ministry has asked the Finance Ministry to ask banks to give collateral free loans of up to Rs 10 lakh to micro and small enterprises, which is mandatory upon them as per Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guideline,� Sinha added.

The RBI had raised the limit of collateral free loan for MSEs from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh in 2010.

Sinha called for support from the State Government for building up necessary infrastructure for the downstream industries coming up from the Gas Cracker Project. �The bamboo materials can be combined with polymers to produce different items,� he added.

Sinha sought cooperation from the State Government for implementing the Public Procurement Policy for assisting the MSMEs in increasing their market share.

Sinha said his ministry has given added thrust to cluster development programmes and have enough funds for this purpose. He said under credit guarantee scheme, the Ministry of MSME has instructed the banks to sanction loans up to Rs 1 crore for working capital as well as term loans without any collateral guarantee. �The Ministry of MSME stands as guarantor for the loans,� he added.

Employing over 70 million people across 26 million enterprises in the country, the MSME sector contributes 8 per cent to the country�s GDP, 45 per cent to the manufactured output and 40 per cent to exports.

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