Other Backward Classes (OBCs) own about 30% of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country.
As on March 31, 2022, the number of OBC-owned MSMEs stood at 23.31 lakh out of a total of 80.16 lakh. Of them, about 41% are located in Tamil Nadu (14.5%), Maharashtra (14.4%) and Rajasthan (12.4%), as per the data specifically given Hindu by MSME-Development Organisation. The data is compiled on the basis of units that have registered themselves with the authorities through the Udyam portal.
In the social category-wise distribution, the general category has the highest share of units with 61.8%. In absolute figures, 49.56 lakh units belong to this category. About 6.8% of the units – about 5.43 lakh – are owned by Scheduled Castes, while Scheduled Tribes run about 1.68 lakh units (2.1%). A little over 18,000 units fall under the category of unknown.
As per the June 2020 notification of the Union Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, a micro enterprise is defined as an enterprise where the investment in plant and machinery or equipment does not exceed ₹1 crore and the turnover is ₹5 crore. It is not more than that . A small enterprise is one where the investment does not exceed ₹10 crore and the turnover does not exceed ₹50 crore. In a medium enterprise, the investment does not exceed ₹50 crore and the turnover does not exceed ₹250 crore.
For OBC-owned enterprises, Tamil Nadu has the highest number of such units with 3,37,016 – 3,23,441 micro units; 12,778 small units and 797 medium enterprises. Maharashtra follows the southern state with 3,35,920 units (3,31,770 micro units; 3,944 small units and 206 medium units). The north-western state of Rajasthan comes third with 2,89,857 units. It has about 2.86 lakh micro units: 3,585 small units; and 150 medium units. The fourth, fifth and sixth positions go to the northern states of Uttar Pradesh (about 2.38 lakh units); Bihar (1.71 lakh) and Madhya Pradesh (1.56 lakh).
In Tamil Nadu, 39.4% of the total number of about 8.56 lakh units belong to OBCs, which is 10 percent higher than the national average of 29%. But, in Maharashtra it is only 20.6 per cent, while in Rajasthan the share is slightly less than 46 per cent.