Kozhikode: Kerala's minister of industries, P Rajeev, has announced the launch of the second phase of the government's prestigious 'Entrepreneurship Year scheme'. The scheme will be inaugurated by chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday, April 10.

Rajeev shared on Facebook, "The state government is gearing up to build on the historic success of the Entrepreneurship Year scheme and move forward. As part of this, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan will announce Entrepreneurship Year 2.0 on April 10. The event will be attended by 500 entrepreneurs at the Gokulam Park Convention Center in Ernakulam. The project aims to start one lakh MSME enterprises in the financial year 2023-24."

He further explained that this time the number of enterprises will be determined district-wise through bottom-up planning. Public awareness programs will be conducted from April to June, followed by loan-licence-subsidy fairs in all local bodies. A marketing campaign at the local body level is also being planned as part of the project. Additionally, all MSMEs will be registered in the mentoring system, and necessary instructions will be provided through this platform. A networking portal linking MSMEs based on local institutions will also be launched as part of the new project to increase cooperation among MSME enterprises and create a marketing network.

Rajeev also highlighted the success of the Entrepreneurship Year 1.0 scheme, which “established 1,39,840 enterprises worth Rs 8,422 crore and created 3,00,056 jobs.”