West Bengal to focus on MSME sector; to bring central funds to state
During the opening ceremony of the Industrial Research and Innovation Unit for MSMEs and startups at IIT Kharagpur, Babul Supriyo, Union Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, West Bengal said that bringing central funds to the state remains one of his most important endeavours, reported PTI.
"I am happy to give away the funds from my ministry because bringing central funds to West Bengal is one of the most important endeavours I have set for myself," he said. While the total cost of the proposed project is pegged at Rs 65.19 crore, the ministry has granted an initial funding of Rs 47.62 crore.
Additional funding of Rs 17.57 crore is being raised from the industrial partners through other projects. IIT Kharagpur has already provided land and technological and infrastructural support to the extent of Rs 25 crore.
"The impact on the MSME sector in the next few years will be a result of such work,” he added. The Minister also said that the challenge for the MSME hub was to ensure small businesses and industrial partners to have access to the state-of-the-art R&D facilities to deliver quality products with high-end technologies at an affordable and competitive price.
The 40,000 sq-ft Industrial Research and Innovation Unit will house high-end industrial equipment such as a robotic welding facility, industry-scale CT scan machine, robotic 3D laser scanner, and more. It will support activities such as design, fabrication and automation of manufacturing, digital manufacturing and IoT (Internet of Things).
In its recent state Budget, West Bengal focussed on benefits for MSMEs, among others. West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra presented a Rs 2.37 lakh crore state Budget with a Rs 9 crore deficit on Monday.
"The Bengal government has given more emphasis to develop the MSME sector, and credit flow to this sector achieved 13 percent growth to Rs 20,287 crore during April to September 2018, which is noteworthy," said Vishal Jhajharia, President, MCCI.
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