ASPIRE scheme is the initiative by the Government of India promoted by the Ministry of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises. ASPIRE ‘A Scheme for Promotion of Innovation, Rural Industries, and Entrepreneurship.’ ASPIRE scheme is to enhance the wave of entrepreneurship across the Nation. This scheme also aims to induct new jobs in the sector and promote startup enterprises’ innovation in the traditional and various agro-industries. Micro, Small and Medium enterprises have been playing a significant role in the economy of India. It has proved to be a catalytic factor in the progressive nature of the economy. ASPIRE Scheme acts as a tool to increase the productivity of the MSMEs and make it worthy of contributing a great deal to India’s economy.
About ASPIRE Scheme
Our Prime Minister launched the ASPIRE Scheme in the year 2015. ASPIRE teaches the entrepreneurs those necessary skill sets to set up a business enterprise. It also targets to facilitate market linkages for the growth of entrepreneurs and provide round-the-clock assistance during the critical period to ensure sustainability—the primary concern of India’s Government in developing the rural economy. The effort is made to improve people’s social and economic well-being in rural areas. Despite many schemes, regulations, and measures, few tools are still missing to overcome unemployment, poverty, and migration issues. There is a sheer need to address these issues to obstruct it at the initial level. The best method to deal with all these concerns is by setting up small enterprises in the agro-based industry sector. The majority of the population in a rural area is still dependent upon the agricultural industry. ASPIRE Scheme is a ray of hope for all those in the dark and can add a tint of innovation, development, value addition in this sector. ASPIRE Scheme has three significant components: Livelihood business incubator, a technology incubator, and funds to be managed by SIDBI.
As per the union budget, 2019 presented by our Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, approx 80 livelihood businesses and up to 20 technology business incubators to generate approximately 75,000 skilled entrepreneurs in agro-rural industries under the ASPIRE Scheme.
Aims and objectives of ASPIRE Scheme
- To create maximum jobs and reduce unemployment and poverty issues.
- To encourage economic development even at the district level.
- To encourage the culture of entrepreneurship in the Nation.
- To facilitate innovative business ideas/solutions for un-attended social needs.
- To include the factor of innovation for further strengthening the MSME sector. To aim at vanishing the problem of poverty, migration, and unemployment from the roots.
Working Mechanism
- Livelihood business incubator-Aims at creating jobs at the local level and reducing unemployment by creating a favorable ecosystem for our country’s entrepreneurial development. The main focus area under LBI is to take up commercial activities.
- Technology business incubators– TBI aims to tap potential technology-related ideas and innovations by effectively utilizing expertise and existing infrastructure already available with the incubators.
- Funds by SIDBI- The fund is to be utilized by SIDBI to various other angles for investing in startups or several other early enterprises. Under the ASPIRE Scheme, investment is made only on those industries which are rural or agro-based; no investment for companies already ran on a tech basis.
Benefits of ASPIRE Scheme
- Automation of agricultural and other activities related to it.
- Value addition to agricultural produce.
- Business models for increasing employment and growth rate.
- Business models for enhancing the social welfare of rural areas.
- Business models for aggregating value addition relevant to rural people.
Who are eligible?
All the traditional enterprises and startups are eligible for the benefits under the ASPIRE scheme.
Application process
The application is sent to the ASPIRE Scheme steering committee under the Ministry of MSME. The committee shall be responsible for any support in overall policy, coordination, management, etc. The general process shall be dealt with by the committee, and the enterprises shall benefit if they fulfill the same eligibility criteria.
As an Aatmnirbhar Sena, we have been at the forefront of providing full aid and assistance to the startups and newly establishes enterprises to benefit from the ASPIRE Scheme. We are trying hard to deal with all the upcoming issues from scratch, i.e., by promoting the scheme and its role in the current scenario. Apart from making them aware, we are trying our best to ensure that they receive round the clock assistance for skill development, technical workshops, training, etc.
