The Hindu Business Line : Enhanced credit flow to SMEs planned

Tiruchi, Sept. 9 The Union Government will take steps to increase credit flow to micro, small and medium enterprises through the Small Industries Development Bank of India and other agencies, the Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, has said.

“I had promised to enhance the credit flow to the sector by 20 per cent a year and double the total quantum of lending in five years. The credit flow to the sector has gone up by 27 per cent. I would like to see it grow by 30 to 35 per cent a year,” Mr Chidambaram said.

The Minister was speaking after declaring open a new technology incubator building at the Tiruchi Regional Engineering College Science and Technology Entrepreneurs Park (TREC-STEP) here on Saturday.

Mr Chidambaram stated that the Centre has planned to establish 50,000 centres across the country under the Skill Development Initiative implemented through the Ministry of Labour.

major initiative

A major initiative has also been taken to upgrade industrial training institutes (ITIs) to international standards with World Bank assistance. Five hundred ITIs would be taken up for development in the first phase, while the remaining 1,396 ITIs would be developed under public-private partnership initiatives.

The Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, Mr T. Ramaswami, said the number of science and technology parks in the country should be increased to 500 from 50. The Secretary, Union Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Mr Chandrapal appealed to the Finance Minister to ensure that banks increased their lending to the SME sector substantially.

The Advisor and Head of the National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board, Mr H.K. Mittal, said the capacity of TREC-STEP would be doubled with the opening of the new building.

Separate policy

The Industries Commissioner, Mr Rajeev Ranjan, said the State would soon come out with a separate policy for micro small and medium enterprises.

The Director of the National Institute of Technology, Mr M. Chidambaram, indicated that establishing a separate nanotechnology incubator would be the next major initiative of the TREC-STEP. The Executive Director of TREC-STEP, Mr R.M.P. Jawahar, said the tax incentives introduced by the Centre have given a new momentum to the incubators in the country.

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