Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday announced that the government would launch schemes to further strengthen entrepreneurial ventures and startups in the State.
He was speaking after the handing over of the first set of 355 sanction letters under the Chief Minister’s Entrepreneurship Development Programme (CMEDP) at a virtual event organised by the Kerala Financial Corporation (KFC).
The first cheque of ₹75,000 was handed over to Isha Kishore, a transgender person from Kasaragod, to set up a beauty parlour-cum-stitching unit.
Mr. Vijayan said 14 blocks prone to floods would get 16,800 ventures in the non-agricultural sector and block-level committees would make funds available at minimum interest. The government had set apart ₹70 crore for the scheme.
He said several concessions had been made for the CMEDP aimed at providing financial assistance for 1,000 units annually and 5,000 units over the next five years. It envisaged a maximum loan amount of ₹50 lakh or 90% of the project cost on liberal terms.
The KFC had received 1,250 applications under the scheme and 376 applicants were selected and imparted training by the Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation. The batch included six transgender persons, 24 SC/ST entrepreneurs, 102 women, and 36 Gulf returnees. A total of 114 loans were sanctioned without collateral.
“The KFC takes its responsibility through expanding its horizons. The target set for the financial year was 1,000 units. Considering the response, we are going to double the target,” Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac, who presided over the function, said.
A handbook on project profile of 51 potential units that can be started was released at the function by Dr. Isaac.
Tomin J. Thachankary, CMD KFC, V.K. Prasanth, MLA, S. Harikishore, ED, Kudumbashree, K.J. Joseph, Director, GIFT, Harikrishnan Namboodori K., CEO NoRKA, spoke.
