The government today said it will create a Rs 2,500-crore corpus for technology modernisation of the micro , small and medium units by the next year.

Textiles sector is the only beneficiary availing these benefits at present under the Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) wherein the units get 5 per cent subsidy on loans, for upgrading technology, from the government.

"We are quite hopeful and confident that by this year or certainly by the next year, we will be in a position to create a corpus to facilitate these units for technology upgradation," Uday Varma , Secretary in the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) said here at a function organised by management consultant Milagrow.

Besides, Varma said robust infrastructure, innovation, marketing initiatives and skill development programmes are required for the growth of these units.

The MSMEs account for 45 per cent of the country's manufacturing output and 40 per cent of exports. The sector employs 50 million people in 26 million units producing over 6,000 products.