Ease of doing business for MSMEs: Rajasthan’s Industries and Commerce Minister Shakuntala Rawat on Saturday launched the state’s MSME Policy 2022 to provide financial and technical assistance with a conducive regulatory environment in order to enhance the contribution of MSMEs to the state’s Gross Domestic Product (GSDP) as well as exports. The policy envisaged the setting up of 20,000 new MSME units with a cumulative investment of Rs 10,000 crores and employment generation for 1 lakh people, said a statement by the state’s Department of Information and Public Relations. The policy also proposed to facilitate 9,000 MSMEs to obtain Zero Defect Zero Effect (ZED) certification.
Launched in October 2016 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the ZED certification aims to help reduce wastage in the manufacturing process substantially, increase the productivity of MSMEs, enhance their environmental consciousness, save energy, expand their markets, etc., in order to boost MSMEs’ competitiveness.
The minister, speaking at the Udyog Ratna and Export Promotion Awards in Jaipur, also launched the state’s first Handicrafts Policy to boost employment opportunities for craftsmen and artisans. Rawat said the policy will benefit artisans involved in textile, metal, wood, carpet, ceramic and clay, painting, leather craft, jewellery etc., and more than 50,000 new employment opportunities will be available in the coming five years. She added the policy aims at providing better marketing arrangements for the upliftment of handicrafts, reviving traditional and extinct arts, and creating new job opportunities.
