By Geeta Pawar Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Giriraj Singh said the Union Budget has given a boost to the MSME sector. “The 2018-19 Budget has given a big thrust to MSME sector, to boost employment and economic growth. The Budget allocation has gone up this year from Rs 6,481.96 crore to Rs 6,552.61. Apart from the Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CHTMSE), the allocation for individual schemes has gone up this year by 59 per cent, from Rs 3,680 crore to Rs 5,852.61 crore,” Singh said. He was in Pune to review honey promotion activities under the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) at the Central Bee Research Training Institute. “Under the KVIC, 800 villages will be provided employment every year. Along with hand charkhas, a new scheme of Solar Charkha Mission has also been proposed to harness non-conventional solar energy to further employment generation, which will provide 4 lakh people employment each year through KVIC,” said Singh. In the Union Budget, allocation under Khadi Grant has been enhanced from Rs 265.10 crore to Rs 415 crore. The budgetary allocation for the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Programme, which helps technology up-grading in the MSME sector, has gone up from Rs 506 crore to Rs 1,006 crore. Funding for Prime Minister Employment Generation Programme has gone up from Rs 1,024.49 crore to Rs 1,800 crore for generating self-employment opportunities through establishment of about 88,000 micro enterprises in non-farm sector, providing employment to around 7 lakh people. Allocation for the Credit Guarantee Fund has gone up from Rs 2,500 crore to Rs 7,500 crore. There has been more than a three-fold increase in allocations for the setting up of state-of-the-art Technology Centres, from Rs 150 crore to Rs 550 crore. Under Scheme for Fund of Regeneration of Traditional industries, the Budget has increased allocations from Rs 10 crores to Rs 125 crore, which will boost employment generation in traditional and rural industries, he said. The budget for ASPIRE (A Scheme for Promotion of Innovation, Rural Industry and Entrepreneurship) has been raised from Rs 50 crore to Rs 232 crore with an aim to set up 100 livelihood business incubators and 20 technology business incubators. The allocation for the National SC/ST Hub has been raised from Rs 60 crore to Rs 93.96 crore with a view to providing business growth for SC/ST entrepreneurs. Another announcements which has given a boost to the MSME sector is the extension of a reduced corporate tax rate of 25 per cent, currently available for companies with a turnover of less than Rs 50 crores, to companies reporting turnover up to Rs 250 crore in the financial year 2016-17, to benefit micro, small and medium enterprises. “Under formal employment, this year, 70 lakh people were provided with the EPF (Employees Provident Fund) number. I hope that in 2019, it will rise to 1 crore people. I hope that there will be a rise in employment opportunities in the coming year. However, the rising population is a drawback,” said Singh.
