Union ministers kick off MSME support campaign in Odisha

Bhubaneswar: As Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a MSME support programme in Delhi on Friday, three Union Ministers kicked off the campaign in as many Odisha districts and asked entrepreneurs to take benefit of facilities including access to credit and market.

While Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan attended a district level programme in Cuttack, Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh was in Puri and Road Transport and Highway and Shipping Minister Mansukh Mandaviya did so at Paradip in Jagatsinghpur district.

The Union Ministers' programme coincided with a campaign launched by Prime Minister in 100 districts of the country for strengthening the eco system for MSMEs.

Addressing the programme in Cuttack, Pradhan said Cuttack city is synonymous with MSME industry and historic Bali Yatra will begin soon to remember the rich maritime history of Odisha.

Utkal Gourab Madhusudan Das had a vision of New Odisha with an objective to provide employment to the youths of the State by recognising the traditional industry into an organised industry, he said.

The minister asked budding entrepreneurs and MSMEs to leverage their support to the ecosystem created in the country to enhance productivity of the MSMEs in various sectors.

Pradhan also felicitated six successful entrepreneurs of Cuttack district who have established their business successfully in the field of printing units, Gems and Jewellery business, foot wear, construction, beauty parlour and garment designing being benefitted through various government run schemes by MSME and Prime Minister MUDRA Yojna.

Ten beneficiaries were also provided financial assistance under UCO Trader and MUDRA schemes to start their business and become self-reliant.

In Puri, Chaudhary Birender Singh said the campaign will give a boost to the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector and help generate employment. The outreach programme will run for 100 days covering 100 districts throughout the country.

Various Union Ministries would be associated with the event and the campaign. The campaign is aimed at reaching out to MSMEs in these 100 clusters and beyond thereby helping to nurture a robust ecosystem for such MSMEs. As the challenges faced by MSMEs cannot be addressed by any single Ministry or Agency, the campaign recognises the multi-dimensional aspects of interventions required in this regard. Department of Financial Services (DFS) shall be anchoring the programme.

In the port town of Paradip, Mansukh Mandaviya said all banks will provide loan and technical support to start micro, small and medium enterprises through the programme.

He said Paradip Port Trust, Paradip Phosphates Ltd, IFFCO and IOCL's Paradip Refinery will play a major role for promoting MSME sector which would create new employment opportunities for local unemployed youth.