Lok Sabha Question No. 4705 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-31
Subject: Agriculture and Tourism-based Industries under MSMEs
Ministry: MICRO,SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES
Asked by: Ramya  Haridas

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF MICRO, SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4705 TO BE ANSWERED ON 31.03.2022

## AGRICULTURE AND TOURISM-BASED INDUSTRIES UNDER MSMEs

## 4705.         MS. RAMYA HARIDAS:

Will the Minister of MICRO, SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  any  proposal  to  include  agriculture  and  tourism-based  industries under the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sector and if so, the details thereof; and
- (b) the steps taken by the Government to boost the export of agricultural products?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR MICRO, SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES (SHRI BHANU PRATAP SINGH VERMA)

- (a): As per existing guidelines, some of the activities under agriculture and tourism based enterprises are  already  covered  in  the  ambit  of  MSME  sector.  Activities  under  these  two  categories,  for  which Udyam Registration  (UR)  is  allowed,  are  given  in  the  dropdown  menu  of  the  UR  portal.  Agriculture based  activities  such  as  Preparation  of  crops  of  primary  market  i.e.  cleaning,  trimming,  grading disinfecting; Cotton ginning  cleaning and bailing; Seed processing for propagation, etc. and  Tourismbased activities such as Travel agency activities, Tour operator activities; Hotels and Motels, inns, resorts providing short term lodging facilities; includes accommodation in house boats, etc. are already included as MSME activities.
- (b):      As  informed  by  Department  of  Commerce,  promotion  of  exports  of  agricultural  products  is  a continuous process. To promote agricultural exports, the  Government has taken several  steps at  State/ District levels. State specific Action Plans have been prepared and State Level Monitoring Committees (SLMCs), Nodal Agencies for agricultural exports and Cluster Level Committees have been formed in a number  of  States.  Country  and  product-specific  action  plans  have  also  been  formulated  to  promote exports. It has also been decided that the institutional framework created under the 'District as Export Hub' Initiative of the Department of Commerce would be utilized to achieve the objectives of Agriculture Export Policy.

A Farmer Connect Portal has been set up for providing a platform for farmers, Farmer-Producer Organizations (FPOs) and cooperatives to interact with exporters. Buyer-Seller Meets (BSMs) have been organized  in  clusters  to  provide  export-market  linkages.  Regular  interactions  have  been  held  with  the Indian  Missions  abroad,  to  assess  and  exploit  export  opportunities.  Country  specific  BSMs  have  also been organized.

The  Government  has  also  introduced  a  Central  Sector  Scheme  -  'Transport  and  Marketing Assistance for Specified Agriculture Products' - for providing assistance for the international component of freight, to mitigate the freight disadvantage for exports of agriculture products.

The  Department  of  Commerce  provides  assistance  through  several  other  schemes,  to  promote exports, including exports of agricultural products viz. Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (TIES), Market  Access  Initiatives  (MAI)  Scheme,  etc.  In  addition,  assistance  to  the  exporters  of  agricultural products  is  also  available  under  the  Export  Promotion  Schemes  of  Agricultural  &  Processed  Food Products  Export  Development  Authority  (APEDA),  Marine  Products  Export  Development  Authority (MPEDA), Tobacco Board, Tea Board, Coffee Board, Rubber Board and Spices Board.

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