Bhubaneswar: The second day of the Senior Officers’ Conference started with a session on the topic “Startups and MSMEs Driving Odisha’s Economy”. Principal Secretary of MSME Department gave brief overview of the topic which was followed by sharing of experiences and best practices by Collectors of Sundargarh, Sonepur and Balasore districts. After the presentation, the panelists interacted with the audience and answered their queries.
The session focused on the significance of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in the national and state economy, being the second largest employer of people after agriculture sector. Startups also come under the broad definition of MSMEs. The vision of Hon’ble Chief Minister to create a vibrant and conducive ecosystem for growth of startups and MSMEs in Odisha was thoroughly discussed in the session. Various financial and non-financial incentives available to MSMEs and Startups under Odisha MSME Development Policy-2022, Odisha Food Processing Policy-2022, Odisha Export Policy-2022 and Odisha Startup Policy-2016 were highlighted for wide dissemination amongst Collectors and senior officers.
As easy availability of bank loan is extremely essential for growth of MSMEs and Startups, Collectors were impressed upon to ensure that banks achieve their targets under government sponsored loan schemes meant for MSMEs. All senior officers were made aware of the legal provision for payment of MSME dues within 45 days failing which defaulter will pay compound interest at 3 times the Bank Rate. For facilitating sale of products manufactured by micro and small enterprise (MSEs) of Odisha, the State Government has made Rate Contract system and provisions of preferential treatment to micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in government procurement tenders such as exemption from depositing EMD, exemption from past work experience and past minimum turnover criteria and lesser security deposit than what is applicable to non MSEs. All senior officers were impressed upon to ensure strict implementation of these government provisions. Commitment of the State Government to make Odisha as the top startup state of the country and steps taken in this direction such as constituting a not-for-profit company in the name of Startup Odisha, creating a world-class tower in the name of O-Hub to provide working and incubation space to startups and financial assistance provided to hundreds of startups and incubators were discussed.
At the end, all senior officers were impressed upon to interact with young people as much as possible and encourage them to take up entrepreneurship as a career option by telling them about the various incentives state government is providing for new MSMEs and startups.
