The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises has been implementing various schemes and programmes for promoting of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) at all India level including Rajasthan. The major schemes / programmes include Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), Credit Guarantee Scheme, Credit Linked Capital Subsidy Scheme (CLCSS), National Manufacturing Competitiveness Programme, Cluster Development Programme, Marketing Development Assistance, Skill Development Programmes, International Cooperation Scheme etc. For implementing various schemes for the development of MSMEs, Government has allocated Rs.2,400.00 crore, Rs. 2,700.00 crore, Rs. 2,835.00 crore and Rs.2,977.00 crore for 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14 respectively.

The data in respect of the number of entrepreneurs benefited under the various schemes, are not maintained centrally.  

The new measures undertaken by Government to encourage small entrepreneurs are:

(i) In March, 2012, Ministry of MSME notified the Public Procurement Policy whereby Central Government Ministries, Departments and Public sector Undertakings are mandatorily required to set an annual goal of procurement from Micro and Small Enterprises from the financial year 2012-13 onwards, with the objective of achieving an overall procurement of minimum of 20%, of total annual purchases of products produced and services rendered by Micro and Small Enterprises in a period of three years.

(ii) Government has approved the setting up of the ‘India Inclusive Innovation Fund’ (IIIF) for promoting grass-root level innovations with social returns as well as modest economic returns.   This fund would operate as a for-profit entity with a social investment focus and would back enterprises developing innovative solutions primarily for citizens who lie in the lower half of India’s economic pyramid, with limited physical and institutional access to basic services. The total corpus of this fund is proposed to be at an initial minimum size of Rs. 500 crore, going up to the maximum size of Rs. 5,000 crores with initial Government of India (GOI) contribution of Rs. 100 crore.

(iii) Gazette notification has been issued to enable a MSME unit continue to avail of non-tax benefits for three years after it graduates to a higher category.

This information was given by the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Shri K. H. Muniyappa in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today.

Public Procurement Policy expands mandated government purchasing from micro and small enterprises to boost their market participation. The Government supports MSME development through credit, subsidy, cluster, marketing and skill programmes with yearly budget allocations, and has enacted a Public Procurement Policy to raise government purchasing from micro and small enterprises; established the India Inclusive Innovation Fund to finance grassroots social innovations; and authorized continuation of non tax benefits for three years after an MSME graduates to a higher category, while acknowledging no central database of beneficiary counts.