MSME boom: Kerala's ‘Entrepreneurship Year’ initiative wins award from Centre

KOCHI:  Kerala industries department’s ‘Entrepreneurship Year’, which saw the establishment of one lakh MSMEs in 2022, has received the Central government’s ‘best practices’ award.

At a national conference of state chief secretaries chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, the Centre lauded Kerala’s initiative to promote entrepreneurship and selected the state’s ‘Entrepreneurship Year’ programme, a release said here.

The initiative by the Department of Industries & Commerce, which saw one lakh new MSMEs in the state in 2022 won the ‘best practices award’ under the central government’s ‘Thrust on MSME’ topic. “The Kerala government’s initiative was presented by the Central government itself,” said the release.

The Uttar Pradesh government’s ‘One District One’ project was also mentioned at the three-day conference. Chief secretary V P Joy, additional chief secretary K R Jyothilal, industries secretary Suman Billa and health and family welfare department secretary Tinku Biswal attended the conference.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who launched the ‘Entrepreneurship Year’ programme on March 30, aiming to create one lakh MSMEs in the 2022-23 financial year, achieved the target in November itself. “We could create one lakh MSMEs in eight months. This is a big milestone in the country itself.

Further, the initiative also set new records—the lowest number of days to establish an MSME, the basic infrastructure created, the number of women who came forward to establish the MSME,” said Industries Minister P Rajeeve, adding that the initiative saw a total of two lakh employment opportunities created. “The achievement is unparalleled in Kerala economic history,” said Rajeeve, who was the brainchild behind the programme.