Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday distributed working capital loans worth Rs 50,000 crore to the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) in the state.
The loans, facilitated in consort with the commercial banks, pertain to the state’s flagship One District One Product (ODOP) scheme, which is aimed at catalysing the traditional industries of UP.
In his address, Yogi claimed that owing to the proactive policies and the ODOP scheme, UP has emerged as an export hub in India.
“The ODOP scheme has become a vital identity marker for UP, and it helped in generating jobs for the youth during the pandemic,” he added.
The CM noted in the earlier regimes, the youth of UP was forced to migrate in search of jobs, while in the present dispensation, the government is promoting employment and self employment opportunities across sectors.
“In 2017, the Credit Deposit (CD) ratio of UP stood at nearly 45 percent, which reflected the flight of capital. Now, the CD ratio has improved to 60 percent, and we are targetting to increase it to 65 percent by the end of this financial year,” Yogi added.
Meanwhile, he distributed toolkits to handicraftsmen and artisans under the Vishwakarma Shram Samman Yojana and the ODOP scheme.
He said new enterprises now do not need No Objection Certificate (NoC) for the first 1,000 days of starting a business, while the registered MSME units get an insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh.
“We have decided to provide interest free working capital to a million new entrepreneurs, especially those promoted by women or members of the SC/ST communities,” the CM said.
Yogi said UP had garnered fresh investment proposals worth Rs 40 trillion, which would generate jobs for 15 million youth, thus curbing migration and boosting socioeconomic activities.
“In 2016-17, UP was 6th or 7th top state economy. Today, UP is the 2nd largest economy, and by 2029-30, it would be India’s top economy,” he asserted.
He referred to the proposed mega Textile Park in Lucknow-Hardoi districts to drive home the point that UP would emerge as a textile and garments hub in India.
Meanwhile, the UP Textile Park will come up over 1,000 acres of land, and the project is estimated to attract investments to the tune of Rs 15,000 crore, and create 300,000 direct and indirect employment opportunities.
“UP is bracing to take a giant leap in the readymade garments segment in the coming years,” Yogi said.
Meanwhile, Laghu Udyog Bharati, vice president, Manish Agarwal said the Yogi government’s proactive policies has put UP on a path of speedy development.