Over 5,02,000 beneficiaries assisted under PMEGP, says Govt

NEW DELHI, Dec 12: At least 5,02,085 beneficiaries and projects have been assisted under the Prime Minister Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) in 2018-19 till November 30, 2018 since its inception in 2008-09, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Wednesday.
In a written reply, Union Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Minister Giriraj Singh said targets for the year 2018-19 for assistance under PMEGP have been increased by more than 50 per cent due to increased budget allocation for the programme.
He said budgetary allocation for PMEGP was increased to Rs 1800.64 crore for 2018-19 as against Rs 1024.49 crore during 2017-18. The targeted no of units to be set up during 2018-19 is 66,700 as against the target of 50,784 in 2017-18. Margin money of Rs 1312.40 crore has been disbursed during 2017-18, as against the allocated target under the Budget Estimates of Rs 1004.49 crore.
During 2018-19, 265,124 applications have been received under PMEGP. Karnataka tops the list with 30,951 applications closely followed by Maharashtra with 27,365 applications. Uttar Pradesh (18,858), Tamil Nadu(16,996), Assam(15,981), Haryana(14,011), Jammu and Kashmir(13,349), Bihar(12,823), Telangana (11,315), Odisha(10,611) and West Bengal (10,010) are the other states with higher no of applications for assistance under PMEGP.
Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) is a flagship credit-linked subsidy programme of Government of India being implemented by the Ministry of MSME. The Scheme is aimed at generating self-employment opportunities through establishment of micro-enterprises in the non-farm sector by helping traditional artisans and unemployed youth in rural as well as urban areas.
(UNI)