india

Updated: Jul 30, 2019 09:24 IST

Around two months ahead of Assembly polls in Maharashtra, the government will launch the Chief Minister Employment Generation Programme (CMEGP), expected to generate 10 lakh jobs in the next five years. The programme will provide around Rs. 15 lakh each for 10,000 micro-, small-, and medium-sized industrial units, in return for 2 lakh jobs every year. “We are launching CMEGP in the next few weeks. Units with capital investment of up to Rs. 50 lakh will be funded up to 35% by the state, once 10% of investment is raised by the entrepreneur,” said Harshdeep Kamble, development commissioner (industries), state.

“The remaining capital has to be raised through loans by the banks. We expect 1 lakh such industrial units to be set up in the next five years, of which 10,000 units are expected in the first year and 20,000 units in the second year,” he added .

The scheme, inspired by the Centre’s Prime Minister Employment Generation Programme, was worked out to tackle high unemployment in the state, according to officials.

The industries department has estimated that nearly 5% of the working population of the state — around 40 lakh people — are unemployed.

The development commissionerate of the industries department has roped in private and nationalised banks to provide loans to the MSME (micro, small and medium enterprises) units in addition to the government funding. The government has also tied up with the Credit Guarantee Corporation of India (CGCI) for the collateral guarantee to stand in as surety to the banks if investors default.

“The scheme is on the lines of the Prime Minister Employment Generation Programme, under which 16,000 have applied from Maharashtra, against the target of 5,000 applications. Our scheme will cater to the remaining. We have tied up with many private banks and expect funding of Rs. 2,000crore from them in the next five years. The state government has made a provision of Rs. 300 crore this fiscal towards its share of the subsidy,” he said.

Another official from the labour department said to ensure response from the banks, the government has tied up with the CGCI. “By levying the premium of 0.5% of the project cost, the banking loans are secured by the corporation in place of the collateral guarantee generally given by the government,” he said.

According to officials from the department, as the department has scrapped its employment exchanges, the government does not receive applications for jobs.