Bengal’s performance in the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector has again come in for praise from the Union government.

According to the recently published findings of the Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises, conducted by the National Statistics Office, Bengal has topped the country in terms of workers engaged in ‘Manufacturing Enterprises’, which is 13.81 per cent of the total number of workers in India in the MSME sector.

Bengal also has the maximum number of ‘Manufacturing’ enterprises, which is 16.02 per cent of the total, and ‘Other Service’ enterprises, which is 13.09 per cent of the total.

Bengal also tops the country in two other aspects.

It boasts the highest percentage – 36.4% per cent – of female-headed establishments in India, and that of female workers in ‘Unincorporated Sector Enterprises’, which is 12.73 per cent of India’s total.

MSME registrations on the Union government’s Udyam Registration Portal increased by 19.32 per cent between April and December 2024, compared to the same period in 2023. According to state government data, during this period, approximately 4.24 lakh MSMEs registered on the portal.

The total number of MSMEs registered on the Udyam Portal since the introduction of the new system stands at around 14.26 lakh.

State Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya recently highlighted this achievement in her Budget speech in the Assembly, reiterating that the total credit disbursement to the MSME sector has reached Rs 8.77 lakh crore since the Mamata Banerjee government took office in 2011.