Growth and structure of small scale industries in Kurnool district, A.P., India

The small scale sector plays a very important role in the socio-economic development of the country. It has significantly contributed to the overall growth in terms of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) employment generation and exports. It contributes almost 40% of the gross industrial value added in the Indian economy and has been recognized as one of the most appropriate means of developing the industrial economy of the backward countries. Small scale industries facilitate the tapping of resources including entrepreneurship, capital, labour and raw materials. They can mobilize rural savings which may otherwise remain idle or may be spent on luxuries or channeled into non productive ventures

Kurnool is the regarded as an industrially backward district in India. The rate of industrial development is reality low, through several measures have been initiated to accelerate industrial development in the district. These include offering investment subsidies, providing industrial infrastructure, extending vocational training support and offering concessional finances especially for the small and tiny units. The activity-wise distribution of small scale units are 27,611 industrial small scale units in the district with an estimated aggregate Investment of Rs. 36,132 Lakhs and providing employment to 75,503 persons. Category-wise distribution of these units reveals the predominance of mineral -based units followed by agro-based, forest-based, engineering-based and allied-based, chemical and food based units.