PMEGP promotes small enterprises

Fly Ash Bricks are made by the worker

Rourkela: Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), a Centrally sponsored scheme, has been beneficial for small industrial sector in the district. The scheme implemented by the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MoMSME) helped small entrepreneurs to set up fly ash bricks.

A fly ash brick unit set up under this Centrally sponsored scheme at old Jalda, Lathikata, have been commercially viable. The unit coming under Rourkela Industries centre here now produces 5 lakh bricks per month, generating a profit of about Rs. 3,40,509. Owner of the fly ash unit, Kiran Devi, said that the unit requires around 1000 tonnes of fly ash, 250 tonnes of slag lime, 125 tonnes of gypsum and 150 tonnes of sand with an expenditure of Rs. 8,92,500 to meet the above profit.

Proprietor Kiran Devi said for the unit the scheme at the state level is implemented through District Industries Centres with an objective of generating employment opportunities in rural as well as urban areas by promoting new self employment ventures or projects or micro enterprises. Small enterprises provide continuous and sustainable employment to a large segment of traditional and prospective artisans and rural and urban unemployed youth in the country.

These units help arrest migration of rural youth to urban areas and to increase the wage earning capacity of artisans and contribute to increase in the growth rate of rural and urban employment.

In this context, Kiran Devi said for carrying out the operation of this bricks unit, there is an automatic Fly Ash brick machine, Hydraulic Press, Pallet Feeder, Mixing Machine, Control Panel, Belt Conveyor, Trolley, Pallet Stacker and Water Proof Plywood Pallet (200 pieces) for which 13 workers were employed in different category as skilled worker, unskilled worker to operate these machines and two watchman to keep vigil on this unit thereby spending Rs. 61,000 per month on them.

She started the project with an investment of Rs. 25 lakh including Block capital (Rs. 14,71,500) and working capital (Rs. 10,28,500) while fly ash is brought from NTPC, SAIL Power Corporation Limited (NSPCL) site inside Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP).

Kiran Devi said that production of fly ash is being made in an eco-friendly manner so as to curb emissions. The benefits of fly ash technology are low water absorption, dimensional accuracy/ uniform shape, high strength/ weight ratio, no emission of green house gases, zero efflorescence, economical and environment friendly.