SYMPOSIUM

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in partnership with National Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development (NIESBUD) organized the 1st National Level Symposium on Growth and Prospects of MSME Sector in Emerging Scenario on 8th and 9th January, 2015 at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. The symposium was attended by more than 400 delegates representing different Government Ministries, Industry, Industry Associations, Academia, Financial Institutions, Support Organizations and Experts connected with the Sector. Dr. Ritu Soryan, Assistant Professor, Department of management Studies from Dronacharya Group of Institutions, Greater Noida attended the Symposium as a delegate.

The aim of this Symposium was to generate awareness on emerging business opportunities for MSMEs in India in the current economic scenario to provide extensive knowledge to participants on supporting programmes / schemes by the Government for the MSMEs.

Mr Arun Kumar Jha, Director General, NIESBUD welcomed all delegates, speakers and the Chief Guest, Sh. Kalraj Mishra, Hon’ble Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Govt. of India. In his welcome speech, Mr. Jha dwelled on the rationale of organizing the Symposium at this point of time and hoped that the deliberations during the event would enable formulation of a Road Map for the Sector in the changing economic scenario. Mr. Jha also spoke about the recent initiatives of NIESBUD in the areas of Entrepreneurship, Skill Training and Hand-holding Assistance towards enterprise creation and employment opportunities.

Shri Kalraj Mishra, in his inaugural address stated that the emerging economic scenario in the country has thrown upon vast opportunities of development and diversification for the units in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) Sector. He added that the Sector, owing to its inherent characteristics has the potential of transforming the fortunes of the Sector enabling it to scale hitherto unheard heights and would play a much larger role in the revival of the Indian economy and emerge as a potent tool to exploit the demographic dividend being enjoyed by the nation at present. He discussed the present Government’s initiative of “Make in India” and its emphasis upon increasing the share of the Manufacturing Sector in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from the present 14-15% to 25% by 2022.

Shri Kalraj Mishra was impressed by Panelists and Delegates of the Symposium to deliberate upon the strategies for strengthening the units so that Indian products would be of world standard and easily acceptable in the global markets. The Government, he assured on its part, is taking all steps for spreading the cult of entrepreneurship, skill development and sustenance of MSME units and hoped that the deliberations during the course of the Symposium would further strengthen Government’s efforts in this regard.

Mr. Surendra Nath Tripathi, Joint Secretary (SME), in his Key Note, highlighted the significance of the MSME Sector in meeting different socio-economic objectives while elucidating how the Industry breathes through MSMEs. He urged the stakeholders to ensure the sustenance of MSMEs in the changing circumstances if the GDP of the country is to grow at the desired rates. He applauded the Government’s recent initiatives and renewed focus on entrepreneurship and skill training in the backdrop of ambitious initiative of “Make in India”.

Mr. Kavi Arora, Co-chairman, CII Northern Regional Committee on MSMEs, advocated adoption of a coordinated approach by all the concerned stakeholders for holistic development of the MSME Sector.

The key speakers for the first plenary session were Shri N. Mohan, Global Business Head Tata International Limited, Shri Nilesh Gopali, Country Head Cloud Buy, Ms. Pooja Malhotra, Vice President Jet Airways, Shri Akshat Gupta, Director Commercial Auto Products Private Limited, and Col. (Retd.) K. V. Kuber, Advisor Defence Research and Development Organization. The program commenced with introduction of the guest speakers to audience by Dr. Alka Kaul, Vice–Chairperson, CII Delhi State Council and Director, Horizon Industrial Products Pvt. Ltd.

Dr. Alka Kaul initiated the panel discussions with her opening remarks on the “MAKE IN INDIA” initiative which opens emerging sectors to a plethora of opportunities. She focused her discussion on Opportunities for MSMEs in emerging sectors of the economy, their scope and future in the presence of a burgeoning domestic market, raw material, availability of large pool of skilled labor and manufacturing competitiveness etc.

Shri N. Mohan delivered an interesting presentation on Emerging Business Opportunities for MSMEs in Leather and Leather Products and emphasized that women are better suited for this kind of work so they could be encouraged to work in factories. He deliberated on the changing conditions of present scenario. He shared an elegant video clipping with audience which was on Utkarsh – Nav Chetan Center. He also shared his thoughts on business sensing opportunity interface with various government / non-government organizations. His energetic presentation held the audience spell bound.

Shri Nilesh Gopali delivered his talk on Emerging Business Opportunities for MSMEs in E- Commerce Space while Ms. Pooja Malhotra presented the possibility and modalities of Business Opportunities for MSMEs in Tourism. Shri Akshat Gupta, a young, energetic and enthusiastic speaker equipped the audience with the knowledge of opportunities existing in the Auto Components Sector. Col. (Retd.) K.V.Kuber deliberated on the Business Opportunities for MSMEs in Defence Sector. He said that we have countless opportunities but we are losing because of unawareness.

The First Plenary Session came to a close with mementos presentation to the guest speakers by Dr. Alka Kaul.

Second plenary session was on “Innovation, Economic Growth and New Employment Generation- Pillars of MSMEs”

The key speakers for the second plenary session were Shri Rajeev Khurana, General Manager- ITI Projects Maruti Suzuki India Limited and Shri Sabyasachi Das Mohapatra, Chief Executive Officer Global Innovation and Technology Alliance’s, Roopika Rastogi Advisor NIESBUD, Prof. H.P Singh, Senior Consultant, NIESBUD and Shri N.K. Maini, Acting Chairman- cum- Managing Director Small Industries Development Bank of India.

The Panel discussed on initiatives by Government of India such as “Make in India ”, “Virtual Cluster”, “Promotion of Renewable Energy Generation in MSME” and other core issues. The Growth and Prospects of Industries in the MSME Sector, were the key takeaways for the participants of this symposium. Special emphasis was given towards the Initiatives taken by Ministry of MSME for developing this sector, new steps in direction of the development of “Virtual Clusters" in the MSME Sector etc.

Shri Arun Kumar Jha, Director General, from NIESBUD, Noida got the opportunity to deliver the Valedictory speech. He welcomed the honorable Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Government of India. Special Address was delivered by Shri Surendra Nath Tripathi (Joint Secretary SME), Government of India.

Giriraj Singh took this opportunity to express that "Make in India" is not merely a slogan but a way of thinking for the Government. He emphasized that "intention" and "belief in leadership" are vital for transforming the fortunes of any Sector including the MSME Sector. He also elaborated as to how to emphasis upon increasing the share of eco-friendly khadi products in the MSME Sector from the present less than half a percent to 5% over the years would generate large scale employment opportunities mainly for women who constitute half of the population. Recalling the significant contribution of the Sector to the Indian Economy, Giriraj Singh added that MSMEs have the potential of transforming themselves into a vehicle of enabling the country to regain her glorious ancient status in the economic affairs of the world.

The Minister of State also assured the delegates that the Government is committed to extend all possible help for maintaining and improving competitiveness of the micro and small units in the emerging economic scenario.

Shri. Ashok Saigal, Managing Director, Frontier Technologies, emphasized upon the imperativeness of organizing skill training in active association with Industrial Associations for achieving the desired results. He hoped that the Indian MSMEs would get a great boost from the emphasis being laid by the Government upon increasing the manufacturing activities in the country.

The program came to an end with the memento presentation to the minister. The participants had a rendezvous for satisfactorily beneficial to the learners and they enriched their knowledge with practical design parameters for Economic Growth and New Employment Generation.