THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
Kerala’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector made a big leap by adding over one lakh ventures for the second consecutive year in 2023-24, taking the total number of newly set up units to 2,40,396 since the launch of the Year of Enterprises in 2022-23.
The initiative also netted a total investment of Rs. 15,167.36 crores and created 5,09,740 jobs in the MSME sector in the last two years.
The programme had yielded an investment of Rs.8,422 crores and generated 3,00,51 jobs in 2022-23. Keeping the momentum of growth, in 2023-24 (till March 15)the initiative netted an investment of Rs 6,745.36 crore and created 2,10,776 jobs.
“This is an amazing achievement about which Kerala could be really proud of. The resounding success of the Year of Enterprises initiative and other projects of the Department of Industriesand Commerce shows that the right policy initiatives and their prompt implementation will yield handsome returns,” said P. Rajeeve, Minister for Law, Industries and Coir.
“What is significant is that the initiative has a salutary effect on the economy of the state, especially in job creation and income generation,” Rajeeve added.
The Government declared 2022-23 as Year of Enterprises, setting a target of creating at least one lakh new enterprises and 3 to 4 lakh jobs. The project was launched by the Department of Industries & Commerce (DI&C) with the co-operation of Local Administration, Co-operation, Fisheries and Animal Husbandry departments.
What was initially conceived as a year-long project proved to be a continuing one as the upward thrust it created kept scaling with more and more entrepreneurs leveraging the supports it offered for starting units.
Significantly, one-third of the units (31,419)started in 2023-24 were promoted by women entrepreneurs while 3375 enterprises were started by entrepreneurs from the Scheduled Caste/ Scheduled Tribes communities.
Ernakulam district led in having the largest number of units followed by Malappuram and Thiruvananthapuram. More than 9,000 ventures were created in Palakkad and Thrissur districts while industrially backward districts like Pathanamthitta, Wayanad, Idukki and Kasaragod also benefited from the project, together having 13,237 units.
Of the total units started under the programme,13,790 are in the manufacturing sector accounting for an investment of Rs. 1,428.15 crore, 44,468 units in the service sector with an investment of Rs 2,705.13 crore and 42,298 commercial enterprises with an investment of Rs 2,612.14 crores.
The ventures that put up excellent performance during a short span included agro & food processing, garments & textiles while the service sector enterprises related to hotels and restaurants, catering and garment designing and dress making.
The District Industries Centres have served as the pivot of the project by identifying the potential entrepreneurs and investors and connecting them with credit agencies, government departments and public sector undertakings to help them take their ideas forward.
Also, specially designated officers were assigned and help desks set up in 1034 local bodies across the state, besides organizing awareness programmes about the initiative.
