Micro, small and medium enterprises ministry to focus on defence, pharma in 12th five-year plan

NEW DELHI: The MSME Ministry proposes to provide incentives to emerging entrepreneurs in defence, robotics and biotech sectors during the 12th Five-Year plan, a senior government official said.

“We have identified five to six new areas — nanotechnology, biotechnology, defence and homeland security, food processing, IT-related activities and pharma,” Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Secretary Uday Kumar Varma said.

The ministry has decided to facilitate the start-up MSMEs in these ‘crucial’ areas with a special fund package during the five-year (2012-2017) period. However, he didn’t elaborate the details of the package. “…these sectors are of crucial importance.