Union Minister for MSME, Jitan Ram Manjhi, today stated that the MSME Ministry has created over 28 crore employment opportunities in the past 10 years. Addressing a press conference in Mumbai, the MSME Minister emphasised that the Ministry contributes approximately 30% to the GDP, 35.4% to the manufacturing sector, and 45.73% to the country’s total exports.

Mr. Manjhi highlighted that the number of registered MSME units has increased 15 times in the last five years, with the total number of MSME units now reaching 6.53 crore. He also noted that loans provided to MSME units have increased fourfold in the past five years.

The MSME Minister further mentioned that over 80 lakh employment opportunities have been created through the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme, with 80% of these opportunities generated in rural areas. The Minister also highlighted the PM Vishwakarma scheme, which targets the workforce engaged in the informal or unorganised sector. Nearly 1 million registered artisans have benefited from toolkit incentives.