Kerala to hold business event for MSME sector next month

Kochi: The industries department of Kerala will next month organise a three-day business event here focussed on Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), which have experienced an enormous growth in the last few years. Over 200 investors from outside Kerala, including from abroad, have registered for participating in the meet starting February 26.

The sectors being showcased are Food Processing (Food & Spices), Handlooms, Textiles & Garments, Rubber, Wood based Industries, Ayurveda & Herbal, Electrical & Electronics and Traditional Sector like Handicrafts, Bamboo. The event will have an exhibitor section in which 151 exhibitors (Small & Medium Enterprises) from Kerala are expected to participate.

The MSME sector in Kerala has been on a dream run during the past few years with the Union Ministry for MSMEs giving the state the 'Model State' tag for its Cluster Development Programme. The state has also surpassed many to top the national landscape in terms of benchmarks set by the central government for the development of the sector.

The state has identified around 70 clusters spread across various sectors, including food, garments, rubber and clay. Around 50 consortia were formed and registered in different clusters.

Under the CDP programme, the Centre has given its go ahead for 14 projects in the state of which seven have already went on stream and two more have got in-principle nod from central nodal agency.

Another nine are in the pipeline and may get in-principle approval from the Centre soon. The total cost of the projects approved is at Rs 85.87 crore and investments worth Rs 118 crore are in the pipeline.

"We found that the model of Cluster Development Programme (CDP) was most suited for the development and growth of the sector. The government's effort is to spur the growth of the SMEs, which has been growing exponentially, to put the state's industrial sector in a higher growth trajectory," Industries Minister P K Kunhalikutty said.