Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), which is implemented by the MSME Ministry through the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) to support entrepreneurs in setting up new units in the non-farm sector, has assisted 32,626 women-led units during the financial year 2022-23. However, this was 16.6 down from 39,156 women entrepreneurs backed during FY22 but 19.5 per cent up from 27,285 women entrepreneurs supported during FY21. The information was shared by the Minister of State for MSMEs Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma in a written reply to the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
Launched in 2008, the scheme facilitates credit up to Rs 50 lakh (increased from earlier up to Rs 25 lakh) to aspiring entrepreneurs for launching their new manufacturing units and up to Rs 20 lakh (from Rs 10 lakh earlier) for new service units. The scheme was also extended over the 15th Finance Commission Cycle from 2021-22 to 2025-26 with an outlay of Rs 13,554.42 crore. This year’s budget had allocated Rs 2,700 crore to PMEGP in comparison to 2,484 crore (revised estimate) in FY23.
According to the MSME ministry, general category beneficiaries can avail margin money subsidy of 25per cent of the project cost in rural areas and 15 per cent in urban areas. For beneficiaries belonging to special categories such as scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, OBCs, minorities, women, ex-servicemen, physically handicapped, transgenders, beneficiaries belonging to Northeastern Region, hill and border areas, and aspirational Districts, the margin money subsidy is 35 per cent in rural areas and 25 per cent in urban areas.
During MSME Day last month, MSME Minister Narayan Rane had digital transferred Rs 400 crore margin money subsidy to 10,075 PMEGP beneficiaries.
Also read: PMEGP: KVIC releases Rs 100 crore in subsidy to over 3,000 beneficiaries
Under the scheme, around 80 per cent of the total units supported are in rural areas, whereas around 14 per cent are in aspirational districts and nearly 50 per cent units are owned by women and SC/ST entrepreneurs. Since 2018-19, second financial assistance of up to Rs 1 crore for upgradation and expansion of well-performing existing PMEGP/REGP/MUDRA units has been introduced with subsidy of 15 per cent, the ministry said in a statement.