A seminar was held at IIJS Premiere to outline the different initiatives the Government offers to the MSME sector.
The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) has provided financial assistance of around Rs. 2.75 crore to MSME members participating in IIJS Premiere.
The disbursements under the scheme have already begun to the 194 companies that applied for the grant. To shed light on the availability of this and other Government Schemes for MSMEs, the GJEPC organised a seminar on how to ‘Avail the Advantages of Government Benefits as an MSME’ on 7th August at IIJS Premiere.
The esteemed panel included Dr. Ishita Ganguly Tripathy, Additional Development Commissioner, Ministry of MSME; P. Udayakumar, Former CMD and Director, National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC); and Rajiv Chawla, Chairman, IamSMEofIndia who succinctly put together the list of initiatives the Government has created for the MSME industry.
Dr Ishita said, “The guiding principles for the MSME sector are Atma Nirbhar Bharat, Inclusive growth, Udyamati Bharat and Udhyam Shakti (29th June 2022). This will ensure that entrepreneurs are formally a part of the industry and can therefore benefit from the initiatives that the government provides.”
She spoke of the different initiatives the Government offers the MSME sector, including the following:
- MSME Policy (yet to be issued to the public, under construction)
- Samadhan Portal – for delayed payment
- Export Facilitation
- International Market Intelligence Dissemination
- Procurement and Marketing Support Scheme for Vendor Development Programme
- Public Procurement Policy for Micro and Small enterprise Order
- ECLGS (Extend Emergency Credit Facilities)
- Revamping CGS for MSMEs
- SRI Fund
- MSME Rupay Credit Card
P. Udayakumar said, “The major portion of the MSME business is in the gem and jewellery sector. There are 16 policy initiatives for the promotion of MSMEs, as mentioned by Dr. Ishita. All are available on the NSIC website. NSCI sells raw material to MSMEs at a discounted price to motivate and encourage the players in the industry. Constant feedback and engagement with the authorities will help the Government to understand and aid your needs. We cannot guarantee solving all the problems but we can guarantee that it’s being taken into consideration. We are doing the most we can to help entrepreneurs.”
‘Can you predict tomorrow?’ was the powerful opening statement from Mr. Rajiv Chawla. He said, “If we continue to observe and analyse, we can actually forecast the future. This is the same way our Prime Minister has foreseen what the future holds for MSMEs and started IAmSMEofIndia.
“Instead of the preceding 30 years, we can accomplish the goal in 5 years if we adhere to the Government’s defined roadmap and add our own values to it.1.4 billion dreams, 63 million MSMEs, 12.5 million GST Registrations, 8.5 million Udhyam,70 thousand products, 50 thousand start-ups, 6 thousand services, 92% share in employment, 45% share in export, 40% in manufacturing, 30% in National GDP, 2nd largest employer and #1 in developing India. The Government has made some major revolutionary reforms such as Digitalisation, GST – One nation, One Tax and Aatma Nirbhar to accelerate the growth of MSMEs in India.”
Stressing about the lockdown in 2020, he said “We now need to learn and unlearn. We need to come to terms with the fact that things will never be the same anymore. We need to adopt new skills and technology and be innovative to guarantee success in the future. Globalisation and Technology has already disrupted the business world and Sustainability and Scalability is going to disrupt the business world. Technology won’t replace entrepreneurs, but entrepreneurs who use technology will replace entrepreneurs who do not. Now, we no longer follow the norm – Survival of the fittest but instead Survival of the Nimble. The comeback is always stronger than the setback.”
Rajiv said that there are 10 rules or guidelines for those practicing in the MSME sector. This will ensure success in your business.
- Adopt world-class manufacturing practices and business systems (world-class products)
- Productivity efficiency Cost (Right Quality, Right Price)
- Innovation Value Addition (Do something new)
- Brand Building, Knowledge Management (Copyrights like IPR)
- Scalability, New Marketing Strategy, Use Technology
- Financial Literacy, Transparency, Alternate Finance Options
- Team Building, Training and Retaining, Skill is the new currency
- Cluster Approach (What you can’t do alone, do together)
- New Laws, New Compliances, Respect Mother Earth, Focus on Sustainability, Cyber security, Risk Management, Succession Planning
- Keep Learning, Network Knowledge