There are 8,643 micro, small and medium enterprises engaged in defence production in the country, the Lok Sabha was informed on Thursday. The Narendra Modi government has initiated several schemes to support MSMEs including those involved in in the defence production sector, Nitin Gadkari, Union minister for small and medium enterprises, informed the lower house in a written reply.
Some of the central schemes for the MSME sector are Prime Minister’s Employment Generation programme, Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries, A Scheme for Promoting innovation, Rural Industry & Entrepreneurship, Interest Subvention Scheme for Incremental Credit to MSMEs, Credit Guarantee Scheme for Micro and Small Enterprises, Micro and Small Enterprises Cluster Development Programme, Credit Linked Capital Subsidy and Technology Upgradation Scheme.
Micro Small and Medium Enterprises contribute almost 30% of India’s gross domestic product and nearly half of its exports. The Modi government has accorded high priority to MSME sector that has huge employment generation potential. The ministry of micro small and medium enterprises implements many schemes to support MSME Sector. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had allocated Rs 7,011.29 crore for the sector in her maiden Union Budget in July, which is an all-time high.
According to government data, the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme generated 5.87 lakh jobs in 2018-19. The scheme generated 4.08 lakh and 3.87 lakh jobs in 2016-17 and 2017-18, respectively.