New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh government has provided financial assistance to the tune of Rs 8,200 Crore to 2,600 entrepreneurs in the last three years as a major impetus to the traditional industry under One District One Product’ (ODOP), one of the flagship schemes of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

The ODOP has already made its footprints in the international markets as the specific products of all 75 districts of the state have found takers in the country as well as globally.

According to statistics, more than 11,000 ODOP products are available on online shopping major Amazon and over 50,000 products worth Rs.24 Crore have already been sold so far. The MSME, the umbrella department of ODOP, has given financial assistance of Rs 3,134 Crore to 916 entrepreneurs in the financial year 2018-19. The ODOP scheme has also provided employment opportunities to 10,733 people in this period.

Similarly, during 2019-20, as many as 1,442 entrepreneurs were given financial assistance of over Rs 4353 Crore and 15,253 people also got employment. In the current financial year, 236 entrepreneurs have been given financial assistance of about Rs 8 Crore in the financial year 2020-21 till August while 2114 people were given employment.

In 2018-19, the export of ODOP products increased by 28 percent to Rs 1.10 Lakh Crore.

“Problems of the ODOP entrepreneurs are being addressed on priority. Along with this, they are also being provided with upgraded machines, training and financial assistance to make them technically efficient”, Navneet Sehgal, Additional Chief Secretary, MSME, said.

Government’s campaign for traditional industries praised

Meanwhile, experts are of the view that the situation in the industrial sector in UP has undergone a drastic change after 2017. “Especially, the dedication of the state government towards the traditional industries is laudable. The government is also addressing the problems of the entrepreneurs and this has increased the production of the traditional industries district-wise”, says RK Jain, former secretary of the Western UP Chamber and Commerce.

For example, the old wood carving industry of Saharanpur needed training. Now the state government is providing training facilities to them. This will not only improve the products, but will also decrease the production time, he adds.

The history of UP traditional industries

UP had a distinct identity in the industries in the 60s and 70s and the maximum growth rate of industries was in Kanpur, Muzaffarnagar and other districts but with the changing times, industries started shutting down one by one due to the neglect of the previous governments and the situation even worsened for the traditional industries.

It was when the Yogi government adopted this scheme as one of its most ambitious schemes and the results are showing.

Products of different districts had good demands globally. However, the industries also had various problems, and from time to time, they used to convey their issues to the state governments but a solution was rarely seen on the ground.