The Tamil Nadu government is planning to create a venture capital fund with the support of private industries and foreign investors for the Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI) in the state.
O Panneerselvam, the state finance minister, who presented the interim budget last week, said that the EDI will also create a corpus fund by pooling resources from financial institutions, and the state and Central governments.
Speaking about sectoral development in the state, Panneerselvam said the state had set a target of developing 50 clusters in the 11th Five Year Plan. The state’s Small Industries Development Corporation Ltd (Sidco) has identified 2,256 acres in 25 locations to promote industrial clusters for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) in the coming years.
Besides, the government has also set aside Rs 100 crore for micro and small units in the jute industry. The number of MSMEs in Tamil Nadu is the largest among all states in the country, accounting for 15.07 per cent of the national total.