'Tap indigenous tech for social cause': Union Minister Giriraj Singh urges startups at TechSparks 2018

BJP minister Giriraj Singh applauds new-age companies that are not only providing jobs but also propelling the GDP growth rate of the country.

Minister of State for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Giriraj Singh on Friday said Indian startups have a huge role to play in the development of the country and in creating social impact. Speaking at YourStory's ninth edition of TechSparks on 'The Indian MSME Growth Story', Singh pointed out that the government has tripled its corpus of Credit Guarantee Fund Scheme for Micro and Small Enterprises to Rs 8,000 crore and that about 18 lakh new entrepreneurs were funded through various initiatives by the MSME ministry in the last four years.

“For micro-enterprises, we are providing Rs 25 lakh up to Rs 2 crore without collateral. The Indian government is taking the guarantee," he said, adding that the government has also decided to raise its guarantee level of such loans to 75 percent, against the previous 50 percent, to help facilitate smooth credit flow to MSMEs.

Singh said, “With these initiatives, the government has been able to provide jobs to two crore people directly and indirectly.”

The minister underscored the need for entrepreneurs to bring innovation to social cause and give a new direction to the rural economy. He urged entrepreneurs to harvest indigenous technology and take it to the world.

Citing an example, Singh, said, “Today, we are banning polythene bags. A Dutch startup came with a technology to produce cloth from cow dung. I asked our scientists to do something similar and they produced paper bags from cow dung. Now, with our indigenous technology, we have shown that we can come up with an alternative to polythene bags.” He added that social entrepreneurship is a huge opportunity for Indian startups.

In order to ensure more transparency, the MSME ministry recently launched an e-newsletter that aims to facilitate regular two-way flow of information between the sector and the MSMEs.

YourStory's annual extravaganza TechSparks brings together the best and the brightest from the startup ecosystem, corporate world, policymakers and, of course, the investor community. Over the years, it has grown to become India's most loved tech and startup platform for knowledge sharing and networking. The ninth edition of TechSparks also marks YourStory's 10th anniversary. A big thank you for all your support over the years and keep reading and watching YourStory.