Lucknow, Oct 11 (IANS): Uttar Pradesh now boasts of having financed the highest number of units in the country under Prime Minister Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP).
The UP government has facilitated to provide a total of over Rs 123 crore as margin money through various banks to about 3,588 units under PMEGP with a total cost of the projects worth over Rs 450 crore during the current financial year so far.
In the financial year 2021-22, during six months from April to present, applications for the sanction of about Rs 608 crore of more than 19,000 projects been forwarded to the banks.
Out of these, the margin money to the tune of about Rs 157 crore to about 4,770 units have been sanctioned while Rs 123 crore of 3,588 units has already been disbursed.
About 40,000 people have got employment in these projects.
According to the government spokesman, this has been done in just over six months of current financial year and is one and a half times of the target set for the entire 2021-22.
As per estimate based on these statistics, the achievement during 2021-22 is likely to be about 150 per cent.
The state of UP is fast emerging as an investment hub in the country with MSME sector contributing to it.
The spokesman said that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has taken many important steps to change the condition and direction of the state which is counted as BIMARU state.
More than 21 new policies of various departments have been implemented in the state and it has risen from 14th to second rank in Ease of Doing Business.
As a result of this, for the first time in comparison to the previous governments, proposals for investment of about Rs 4.68 lakh crore have come in the state.
Dr Navneet Sehgal, Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), MSME said that the state has the largest number of industries in the country financed under PMEGP. This has provided employment opportunities to thousands of people directly and indirectly.
The Uttar Pradesh Khadi and Village Industries Board has installed almost three times the units from April 1 to June 16 as compared to last year. This year, 646 units have been installed in PMEGP with an investment of Rs 85 crore while about Rs 21 crore have been disbursed as subsidy, he said.