One Family One Enterprise (OFOE)

What is the One Family One Enterprise scheme?

One Family One Enterprise (OFOE), sometimes referred to in Malayalam discussion as Oru Kudumbam Oru Sanrambham, is an interest subvention scheme of the Directorate of Industries and Commerce under the Kerala Industries Department. The stated aim is to "encourage entrepreneurial activity in every household". The idea being that at least one enterprise should exist in every family, and that the cost of borrowing should not be the reason it does not.

One Family One Enterprise starts from a problem the Directorate itself states plainly: MSMEs "primarily rely on bank finance for their operations", and assistance at the early stage of establishment is what decides whether the enterprise survives. OFOE therefore does not give a capital grant. It reduces the running cost of the loan the entrepreneur has already taken.

Key features

• Applies to a loan of up to Rs 10 lakh for fixed capital, working capital, or both.
• Interest subvention of a maximum of 6 per cent, paid for five years from the date of first disbursement.
• The subvention equals the lender's rate minus 4 per cent, so the effective borrower cost lands at about 4 per cent.
• Covers manufacturing, service and trading enterprises. A wider net than the manufacturing-only Entrepreneur Support Scheme.
• 50 per cent of beneficiaries shall be women entrepreneurs.
• Delivered through banks and state agencies including KSIDC, KFC, KSFE and Kerala Bank.

Who is eligible for One Family One Enterprise?

You can apply if your enterprise:

• Is a new manufacturing, service or trading business in Kerala.
• Commenced operations on or after 1 April 2022.
• Holds a valid Udyam registration.
• Has a bank loan that is not classified as an NPA.
• Has not already received grant assistance under another government scheme.

You are not eligible if:

• The enterprise started before 1 April 2022. The one stated exception is an existing enterprise assisted under the PMFME scheme that has been expanded or modernised after April 2022.
• The enterprise has no Udyam registration.
• The loan account is an NPA.
• The enterprise has already drawn grant assistance from another government scheme for the same purpose. OFOE is not meant to be stacked on top of a capital subsidy already received.
• There is no loan at all. OFOE subsidises interest, so a self-financed unit with no borrowing has nothing to claim.

An individual does not receive OFOE money personally. The applicant is the enterprise, and the benefit lands against the enterprise's loan account.

How much does OFOE actually save you?

The arithmetic is straightforward. If a bank lends at 10.5 per cent, the subvention is the difference between that rate and 4 per cent, which is 6.5 per cent, but the cap is 6 per cent, so the government pays 6 per cent and the borrower pays 4.5 per cent. If the bank lends at 9 per cent, the difference is 5 per cent, which is inside the cap, so the government pays 5 per cent and the borrower's effective rate is exactly 4 per cent.

On a Rs 10 lakh loan, a 6 per cent subvention is worth roughly Rs 60,000 in the first year of a term loan, tapering as the principal is repaid, and it runs for five years from the date of first disbursement. For a small unit whose annual surplus is thin in the first two years, that is a material difference.

What documents are required for OFOE?

How to apply for One Family One Enterprise

1. Register your enterprise on Udyam if you have not already. OFOE checks this first, and the activity recorded there should match what the unit does.
2. Take the business loan — up to Rs 10 lakh for fixed capital, working capital or both, from a bank or a participating state agency such as KSIDC, KFC, KSFE or Kerala Bank.
3. Open the official portal at ofoe.industry.kerala.gov.in and create a login for the enterprise.
4. Fill the application with the enterprise details, the Udyam number, the loan account number, the sanctioned amount and the rate of interest charged.
5. Upload the sanction letter, disbursement proof, loan statement and commencement proof, then submit.
6. Follow up with your District Industries Centre, which verifies the enterprise and the loan particulars before the subvention is released.

There is no offline application form for OFOE. The District Industries Centre and taluk industries offices help with filling and verification, but the submission happens on the portal.

How to check your OFOE status

1. Log in to ofoe.industry.kerala.gov.in with the enterprise credentials.
2. Open the application to see whether it is at portal scrutiny, DIC verification, or release stage.
3. Check the loan account statement at your bank. The subvention, when released, is visible against the loan account.
4. If the file has not moved, contact the General Manager, District Industries Centre in your district, or the Directorate on 0471-2302722.

Why OFOE applications get rejected

• Enterprise commenced before 1 April 2022. This is the hardest cut-off in the scheme and cannot be worked around except through the PMFME expansion exception.
• Loan account classified as NPA. The scheme requires a non-NPA loan.
• Grant assistance already received under another government scheme, which disqualifies the enterprise from OFOE on the same account.
• No Udyam registration, or a Udyam certificate whose details do not match the bank record.
• Loan above Rs 10 lakh with no clarity on the eligible portion. The subvention is reckoned on a loan of up to Rs 10 lakh, so document the eligible component clearly.
• Mismatch between the promoter's Aadhaar or PAN and the bank record, which stalls verification.

Where does OFOE fit among Kerala's MSME schemes?

One Family One Enterprise sits alongside, not inside, the other Kerala Industries Department schemes. The Entrepreneur Support Scheme gives a capital subsidy of 15 to 45 per cent but only to manufacturing units. Margin Money Grant to Nano Units and the Interest Subvention Scheme to Nano Units target the very smallest enterprises. Kerala Entrepreneur Loan Scheme (KELS) and PMEGP are credit routes. OFOE's distinguishing feature is its breadth: a trading or service enterprise, which cannot claim ESS at all, can claim OFOE.

Because OFOE is an interest subvention and ESS is a capital subsidy, a manufacturing unit should check the "no grant assistance already received" condition carefully before assuming it can hold both.

Help and contact for OFOE

• Directorate of Industries and Commerce, Vikas Bhavan, Thiruvananthapuram to 0471-2302722, email industriesdirectorate@gmail.com.
• District Industries Centre in your district, for verification and follow-up on a pending file.
• ofoe.industry.kerala.gov.in for application and status.

No fee is payable to any agent for an OFOE sanction, and the government does not ask for money to process the subvention.