Students get tips on starting new ventures, apprised about govt funding schemes

Nauni, March 7, 2024: A National Workshop under the Procurement and Marketing scheme was organized by the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, GOI at the Dr. YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni. Shailesh Kumar Singh, Assistant Director, MSME, Development and Facilitation Office(DFO Solan), welcomed the guests and explained about the programme. Dr KK Raina, Librarian, said that the university has always emphasized generating employment and the various schemes of the government have promoted the startup culture in the country.

Ashok Kumar Gautam, Head, MSME DFO Solan informed about the various schemes of the MSME and how the Ministry was helping small enterprises through its different schemes. He informed that over one lakh MSMEs were registered through the Udhyam portal in the state and the office was serving all the districts of Himachal. Information about the Cluster Development Scheme, MSME Incubation and Intellectual Property Facilitation Cell was also provided to the budding entrepreneurs and researchers. Experts from different government organizations also briefed the participants about the various schemes and support given to businesses by their respective organizations.
Dr. Anil Kumar, Sr. Scientist from Directorate of Mushroom Research talked about several mushroom-related enterprises that can be started by the youth with support from MSME. Similarly, Ankush Sharma, marketing expert from the Khadi Village Industries Commission explained about the Pradhan Mantri Employment Generation Programme through which support is provided for the establishment of new enterprises.
Sushil Kaushik from District Industries Centre Solan informed about the Mukhya Mantri Swavalamban Yojana being run by the Himachal Pradesh Government for the setting up of new industries. Ravi Kumar, Business facilitator from Govt e Marketplace(GeM) explained about the scope for marketing their products on GeM, which is the largest e-marketplace for the Government. Pradeep Kumar, Sr Branch Manager, National Small Industries Corporation apprised about the support provided to existing MSMEs by the corporation in marketing, raw materials and technology.
The workshop was coordinated by Shailesh Kumar Singh and was attended by Dr. DR Bhardwaj, HoD Department of Silviculture and Agroforestry, Dr. Kapil Kathuria, HoD Business Management, Dr. Yashpal Sharma, HoD Department of Forest Products, Dr. Anil Handa, Dr. Bhupesh Gupta along with over 150 undergraduate and Postgraduate students of the university.