Four Lakh Enterprises In 4 Years: Kerala’s Year Of Enterprises Sets MSME Benchmark

Kochi: Kerala’s flagship Year of Enterprises project has helped launch more than four lakh enterprises in the state, Industries Minister P Rajeev said, highlighting the programme as a major milestone in Kerala’s MSME growth.

Sharing the details in a Facebook post, the minister said Kerala, where only about 10,000 enterprises were being started annually earlier, witnessed a significant transformation after the present government launched the Year of Enterprises initiative with a clear target of creating one lakh MSME units every year.

According to him, the project achieved the one lakh enterprise milestone successfully in each of the financial years 2022–23, 2023–24 and 2024–25. With this, Kerala has now crossed the landmark of four lakh enterprises within four years of the programme’s implementation.

Rajeev said a total of 4,06,178 enterprises have been established in the state under the initiative so far. The project has attracted investment worth 27,133 crore and generated 8,65,287 jobs, reflecting its impact on employment creation and small-scale industrial growth in Kerala. He also pointed out that 1,28,663 women have entered the entrepreneurial sector through the programme, calling it one of the most significant achievements of the initiative.

The minister said the project has received recognition from the American Society for Public Administration, one of the world’s major public administration platforms. Kerala was invited to present the initiative at the organisation’s annual conference in Washington, but could not participate after permission was denied by the Union government, he added.

Despite this, Rajeev said Kerala’s Year of Enterprises initiative has gained attention internationally and is being studied globally as a successful model in the MSME sector.