Kerala - Kozhikode   

Physical verification of MSMEs soon

KOZHIKODE: Industries Minister Elamaram Karim has said that the government will shortly appoint an external agency to conduct a physical verification of all the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) set up using financial aid from the Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP).

The Minister was speaking after inaugurating a State-level workshop on PMEGP, organised by the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), at the New Nalanda auditorium here on Sunday.

Mr. Karim said the external agency to be appointed by the government would study in detail the types of enterprises launched by each entrepreneur and the amount they obtained from various banks to promote their ventures. The study would find out how productively the beneficiaries utilised the government aid.

According to Mr. Karim, the State government efficiently utilised the margin money sanctioned by the Centre under the PMEGP from 2008 to 2010. “The margin money, which we utilised at the initial stage of the project in 2008-09 financial year, was just Rs.688 lakh, but it rose to Rs.3,015 lakh in the last fiscal,” he said.

Mr. Karim said the 2010-11 financial year witnessed the doling out of Rs.2,636 lakh as margin money to various beneficiaries. Around 1,919 new enterprises were set up in the State till December, 2010, he said.

Mr. Karim pointed out that there were only 366 MSME project proposals in the 2008-09 financial year, which witnessed a covetable improvement in subsequent years. Nearly 1,714 micro, small and medium enterprises made their entry in the last financial year, he said.

Margin money

Mr. Karim also said the State government had already requested the Centre to sanction an additional margin money of Rs.10 crore to promote new small-scale industrial ventures under the PMEGP in Kerala. “If the amount is sanctioned, it will be helpful for more youths to take up self- employment ventures,” he added.

Mr. Karim affirmed that complaints against banking firms that were reluctant to sanction loans under the employment generation scheme would be dealt with seriously. Action would be taken against such banks immediately after receiving complaints from entrepreneurs, he said.

South Zone Member of KVIC K.C. Kalappa presided. Deputy chief executive officer K.D. Kamble; director of industries and commerce T.O. Sooraj; and senior officers of KVIC in Kerala were present. K. Mohan Raju, State director of KVIC, welcomed the gathering and B. Sivaprasad, general manager, district industries centre, proposed a vote of thanks.

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