The number of MSME units in West Bengal is estimated to have reached 1 crore with the economy bouncing back after the pandemic, a senior official said.

Addressing a programme, West Bengal Small Industries Development Corporation Ltd (WBSIDCL) executive director V Teja Deepak said there were 90 lakh MSME units in the state before the pandemic.

"There were 90 lakh Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Bengal before the COVID-19 pandemic, and now it must have reached 1 crore after the pandemic," he said.

Maintaining that the state government's schemes such as 'Shilper Samadhan' have been a great help to the sector, he said the time taken to give various permissions for setting up businesses has also come down significantly.

"Bengal is doing well in the export of textile and leather, and the 'Biswa Bangla' marketing is attracting buyers across the globe," he said.

Speaking at the programme organised here by SBI and The Statesman on Saturday, PSU Andrew Yule and Company's CMD RS Manku said the entity makes over 50 per cent of its procurement from MSME units.

"Around 50-60 per cent of our procurement are from the MSMEs. We urge the owners of such units to join hands with Yule," he said.

"What Mahatma Gandhi had said about the cottage industry has now come to be developed as MSMEs," he added. SBI's chief general manager Prem Anup Sinha, who was also present at the programme, urged industrialists to take the assistance of banks and maintain a relationship for financial needs.

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