Sat Feb 01 15:41:47 IST 2025: ## Kerala Welcomes Union Budget’s Boost to Agriculture and MSMEs
**KOCHI, February 1, 2025** – Kerala’s industry players have expressed optimism regarding the Union Budget 2025-26, highlighting its potential benefits for food processing, startups, agriculture, and MSMEs. The budget’s focus on increasing credit accessibility for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) through enhanced credit guarantee cover has been particularly welcomed by the Kerala State Small Industries Association (KSSIA) president, A. Nizarudeen.
The budget also includes incentives for startups, with a reduced guarantee fee of 1% for loans in 27 key sectors. This is seen as a positive development for Kerala, a state actively promoting startups.
Furthermore, the government’s plan to identify 100 districts nationwide to improve agricultural production and processing is expected to benefit Kerala, a state lagging in agricultural output. Farmers, like K. Shivanandan in Palakkad, hope this initiative will lead to a special agricultural development package for regions like Palakkad and Kuttanad. The new scheme, inspired by the Aspirational Districts Programme, aims to enhance productivity, diversify crops, and promote sustainable agriculture practices.
The budget also announced a scheme to distribute micro-enterprise cards with a ₹5-lakh limit to 10 lakh units in the first year, a move also lauded by MSMEs. The KSSIA believes that initiatives to make India a toy manufacturing hub and incentives for footwear manufacturing will significantly benefit Kerala’s MSMEs.
However, some industry sources expressed disappointment that the budget didn’t include a special package to revive the closed Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore urea plant, hindering self-sufficiency in urea production.
First Piper 