Nasir Azam
Srinagar, Feb 25: The administration of Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory has set the ball rolling for preparing a long-term roadmap- strategic investment plan (SIP) – for enhancing the performance of the Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector.
Official documents reveal that J&K’s Department of Industries & Commerce has begun the selection process for finalizing a consultant for preparation of Strategic Investment Plan (SIP) under the “ Raising and Accelerating MSME Performance” (RAMP) programme in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir.
“The purpose of SIP is to develop a holistic MSME support Programme to further complement the UT’s efforts towards boosting MSME growth by enabling effective implementation of Ministry of MSME’s market access and competitiveness schemes in convergence with similar UTs MSME schemes and ensuring availability of infrastructure (power, transportation networks, serviced industrial land), skills training and development, and environmental improvements (reduced waste and pollution),” the documents further state.
The SIP is being prepared as part of implementation of a key scheme of the Government of India supported by the World Bank.
The Government of India has launched “Raising and Accelerating MSME Performance (RAMP)” scheme with an aim to improve MSMEs’ access to market and credit, improving Centre-State linkages and partnerships, addressing issues of delayed payments and greening of MSMEs.
The industrial landscape of J&K is dominated by MSMEs. The MSMEs plays a crucial role in propelling industrial growth and economy in the UT as they contribute around 8% to the GSDP and employ the largest number of people in the manufacturing and services sectors. There are approximately seven lakh MSME units in the state and contributing almost 60% of the total investment and 90% of the total employment in the industrial sector in the UT. MSMEs employ around 11 lakh people in the UT.
