Beneficiary count under ESDP goes up

The Entrepreneurship Skill Development Programme (ESDP) launched by the Government to promote entrepreneurship among youth has registered a massive increase in the number of aspiring entrepreneurs getting training under the scheme. According to the MSME data, the 18 MSME Technology Centres or TCs (previously called Tool Rooms) have also reported an 8% increase in the number of trainees trained. The number of beneficiaries has increased from 1,33,301 in FY21 to 1,44,224 in FY22.

Minister of State for MSMEs Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma said that the number of beneficiaries had increased from 27,544 in FY21 to 58,659 in FY22, recording an upsurge of 113% from the previous year. Amongst the beneficiaries, the number of women beneficiaries increased to 24,734 in FY22 from that of 13,640 in the FY21.

ESDP scheme primarily focuses on the youth, including potential SC/ST and women entrepreneurs, differently-abled, ex-servicemen, and below poverty line people, encouraging them towards self-employment or entrepreneurship as one of the career options.