SMEs play vital role in garments & leather sector, Mahabir Prasad
21 Nov '06
2 min read
Shri Mahabir Prasad
The Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) sector has the maximum potential of generating employment opportunities, whereas the agricultural sector has limited scope for generating employment and the large industries are able to create very few jobs despite huge investments.
This was stated by Shri Mahabir Prasad, Minister of Small Scale Industries and Agro and Rural Industries, while inaugurating the “Fifth Commonwealth-India Small Business Competitiveness Development Programme”, here last night.
He said it was also important to check the regional and social differences for balanced growth of the country. Micro and small enterprises play a crucial role in minimizing these differences, he added.
As per available statistics, there are 12 million enterprises in India providing employment to 29 million people. These enterprises contribute 39 percent of industrial production and 34% of the direct exports of the country. Small enterprises of India produce almost 8,000 items ranging from conventional products to high-tech components being used by different sectors.
The small enterprises are today playing a significant role in sectors like agro-food processing, light engineering, readymade garments, leather, ceramics and information technology. In order to assist micro and small enterprises, their specific needs should be identified and brought to the notice of policy makers, the Minister said.
Shri Prasad observed that developing countries of the Commonwealth might gain from the rich experience of small and medium enterprises of India and similarly Indian small enterprises would learn a lot from the experiences of developed and developing countries within the Commonwealth.
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