Minister pushes to boost MSME participation during Indo- Canada business round table

The micro, small and medium enterprises sector had emerged as an engine of growth, having contributed 8 per cent to GDP besides 45 per cent to the total manufacturing output and 40 per cent to the exports from India.

Speaking at the Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce, CII and India-Canada Business Chamber, round table in New Delhi yesterday to help establish direct linkages between Canadian and Indian companies, union minister of micro, small and medium enterprises, Virbhadra Singh provided a snapshot of the MSME sector in India.

He said the sector consisted f 26.1 million units, employing over 60 million people and manufactured over 6,000 products. 

"The sector has also the distinction of creating comparatively much more employment per unit of investment," Singh said.

He added, "The sector is expected to perform an important role during the 12th five-year plan period (2012-17) in enabling the country to achieve the envisaged overall growth rate of 9 per cent during the plan."

 He said the government has been providing support and sustenance to the sector through a plethora of programmes and policies and that India India was perhaps one of the few countries in the world which has enacted an exclusive act for MSME sector.