Small units in Rajasthan shift to COVID-19 management products

They make face masks, PPE kits as their traditional business was hit by lack of demand due to continued closure of markets

Small and medium industries in Rajasthan have shifted focus to innovations during the COVID-19 pandemic to sustain themselves by manufacturing products such as face masks, personal protective equipment (PPE) kits and hand sanitisers. Their traditional business was affected by lack of demand because of continued closure of markets during the lockdown.

The manufacturers of apparels, umbrellas and perfume had started manufacturing high quality products for COVID-19 management, Industries Minister Parsadi Lal Meena said here on Monday. Over 56,000 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) had again started their operations and nearly 3 lakh workers had joined back.

Hit hard

The MSMEs were hit hard during the lockdown because of migration of workers to their native States. Mr. Meena said the MSMEs were playing an important role in the fight against the pandemic and added that the MSME sector was the second highest employment generator in the State after agriculture.

Over 5,000 firms had signed up for starting new ventures under the State government’s new MSME policy which exempted the companies from prior permissions and approvals for three years. Mr. Meena said the top five destinations of MSME investments during 2019-20 were Jaipur, Jodhpur, Ajmer, Bhilwara and Udaipur.

Jobs to over 6 lakh

The Industries Department registered 1.50 lakh MSMEs for Udyog Aadhar memorandums during 2019-20 in 36 District Industries Centres and they provided employment to 6.17 lakh workers. Besides, the Chief Minister’s Small Scale Industries Promotion Scheme, 2019, was declared a flagship programme of the State government.

Mr. Meena said the MSME sector, which was the “real growth engine” of the State’s economic development, could avail itself of 8% subsidy on loans up to ₹10 crore under the MSME policy. The State government had made an allocation of ₹250 crore to support the MSME sector, which had the potential to provide employment to a large number of migrant labourers returning from other States.

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