The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Act 2008, introduced by the Tamil Nadu government, has given a fillip to the MSME sector in the state, according to a report.
The sector reported a 14 per cent increase in investment in fixed capital to Rs 19,360 crore in 2007-08 from Rs 16,820 crore in 2006-07. The investment in 2005-06 was Rs 16,100 crore.
The output in terms of value too was up to Rs 1.14 lakh crore in 2007-08 from Rs 1.05 lakh crore in 2006-07 and Rs 1.03 lakh crore in 2005-06, the KPMG report, which sourced data from the Department of Economics and Statistics, said.
“The MSME Act 2008 has stimulated the growth of MSMEs in Tamil Nadu. Further the policy also resulted in the establishment of a number of industrial estates,” the report said. During 2008-09, about 11 new industrial estates were established in the state.
A senior government official said around Rs 30 crore would be disbursed this financial year as subsidies to MSMEs as against Rs 20 crore last year.
“They (MSMEs) provide large employment next only to agriculture in terms of volume of employment generated. There is still a lot more they can contribute to the development, which is what the policy is targeting to achieve,” he said.
Some of the highlights of the Act include encouraging agro-based industries to provide better income to farmers, promoting entrepreneur development and sector specific skill development training programmes, allotting 20 per cent land to MSMEs in the schemes undertaken by State Industrial Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu Ltd and offering a rebate of 50 per cent on stamp duty and registration.
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This apart, privately developed estates are offered 25 per cent of the total project cost, subject to a maximum of Rs 1 crore, as assistance. Creation of common facilities such as testing and manufacturing centres for clusters created for cottage and small industries is also being accorded priority.
The new policy has set a target to generate direct and indirect employment for 1 million people in the 11th Five-Year Plan besides a sustained annual growth rate of over 10 per cent for the sector.
The MSME sector in the state accounts for over 95 per cent of all industrial units, about 40 per cent of the output in the manufacturing sector and 35 per cent of exports. There were about 530,000 registered MSME units as on March 31, 2007, providing employment to over 3.7 million people. In 2007-08, this stood at 3.9 million workers.
Over 600,000 unregistered units too are operational, according to the policy statement.