Emphasising that MSME units in Uttar Pradesh are the source of livelihood for crores of people, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday said that jobs will be provided to seven-and-a-half lakh youth through the PM and CM Internship Programmes that are running in the state.
Speaking at Lok Bhavan here on Tuesday, Adityanath said the MSME department should develop MSME clusters by marking land along Purvanchal, Bundelkhand and Ganga Expressways.
He also directed officials to take forward efforts for setting up Unity Malls in Lucknow, Varanasi and Agra and providing facilities to the entrepreneurs of the MSME sector as per their requirements.
He was participating in the loan distribution programme on the occasion of International MSME Day-2023.
A total of Rs 20,000 crore was disbursed simultaneously to 3.41 lakh MSME entrepreneurs for the overall development of the MSME sector, the state government said in a statement.
"Under the loan distribution programme, loans are being simultaneously distributed to 3.41 lakh MSME entrepreneurs in the state. This sector is going to provide maximum employment after agriculture. The entrepreneurs of the MSME sector have given a new identity to UP by infusing new life in this sector," Adityanath said.
He said that there was a time when the MSME sector in Uttar Pradesh was in the jaws of death.
"Due to a lack of cooperation from the government, the entrepreneurs in this sector had become frustrated and disappointed. However, in the past six years, with the inspiration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, our government has been running nearly 96 lakh MSME units, which serve as the source of livelihoods for crores of people," he said.
According to him, Uttar Pradesh is the first state in the country to implement the One District One Product (ODOP) scheme to keep the MSME sector alive.
The chief minister mentioned that Uttar Pradesh is one of the leading states in the country to receive a GI tag for 52 of its products.
"Varanasi alone has obtained GI tags for 23 products. We have 75 districts, and in the coming time, many other products of Uttar Pradesh will get a GI tag. The day is not far when the traditional products of Uttar Pradesh will be known both within the country and across the world," he said.
-With PTI Input
