The government has planned an expenditure of Rs.8,060 crore under the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) during the XII Plan (2012-17).
Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) K. H. Muniyappa said, “For the country as a whole, the outlay for the XII Plan under the PMEGP has been kept at Rs.8,060 crore, which is 70 per cent higher than the allocation of XI Plan for the scheme.” This would create over five lakh entrepreneurs and provide employment to over 35 lakh people, he told reporters here.
So far, the government has released Rs.5,251 crore under the scheme and more than 2.2 lakh projects have been assisted, providing jobs to an estimated 20.42 lakh persons till now.
Under the PMEGP, urban and rural entrepreneurs in the general category can avail themselves of a subsidy of 15 per cent and 25 per cent respectively on the project cost. In the case of weaker sections of society, a 25 per cent and 35 per cent subsidy is provided to urban and rural businessmen respectively.