Ministry updates on initiatives

A World Bank loan of US$200 million is supporting the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises’ Rs.2,200 crore implementation of Technology Centre Systems Programme (TCSP) for over 63 million MSMEs in the country.

The TCSP is to establish 15 new Tool Rooms and Technology Development Centres (TCs) and upgrade the existing 18 TCs across the country, said the ministry in an update on the MSME sector on 14 Dec 2018.

Work on 10 Technology Centres have started at: Rohtak, Bhiwadi, Baddi,
Bengaluru, Durg, Puducherry, Vishakhapatnam, Sitarganj, Bhopal, and Kanpur.

These centres will start functioning soon.

Contracts for Technology Centres at Ernakulam and Imphal were signed in March 2018.

Upgrade work has started at three existing Technology Centres at Bhubaneswar, Mumbai and Aurangabad.

For development of North Eastern Region (NER), a special scheme has been framed under which work is in progress at Technology Centres at Tinsukia (Assam), Dimapur (Nagaland) and Agartala (Tripura).

The Ministry is in the process of drafting strategies for encouraging women to set up their own businesses.

Twenty-three agreements have been signed between Indian SMEs and SMEs of UK, Russia, Uzbekistan, Poland, Bhutan, Austria, Czech Republic, Cameroon and Sri Lanka.

These agreements are for industries such as food processing, agriculture, textiles, defence, ammunition, waste management, dairy products, coal
Jewellery, health care and Education.

Four foreign SMEs have also signed Expression of Interest for entering into joint ventures with the Indian Government.

The Ministry is setting up a Digital Trade Desk aimed at furthering more collaborations between Indian SMEs and other countries and for exchange of data.

The SME Convention, held this year, will be an annual feature with 79 countries showing interest to participate in the next convention.

During the 2018 Convention around 150 exhibitors from India and abroad had set up stalls showcasing their business and products.

International Cooperation

The India-Korea Technology Exchange Centre was inaugurated by the Minister of State (I/C) MSME, Giriraj Singh and Minister of SMEs and Start-ups of South Korea, Hong Jong-hak, on 10 July 2018 in New Delhi.

The purpose of the Technology Exchange Centre is to create a platform for micro, small and medium enterprises of India and Korea where they can be assisted to identify and exchange latest technologies, share management expertise, product development and technology applications for product development.

The Technology Centre will work towards building reliable alliances in space, solar energy, nano-technologies and other developing technologies.

Many Korean organizations have shown interest to initiate technology transfers in MSME sectors between the two countries and this Centre will provide them reliable partners for effecting business alliances.

India and Morocco signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for deepening cooperation between MSME sectors of the two countries in Rabat, Morocco on 26 September 2018.

The MOU will facilitate transfer of Indian technologies and products to Morocco.

Both sides MSMEs have discussed ways and means to synergize their strengths in terms of capacity building, sharing of experiences, exchange of business delegations for creating linkages, JVs and technology transfers.

The Cabinet approved signing of an MoU between National Small Industries Corporation Ltd (NSIC) – a Public Sector Undertaking of the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME), and JSC-Russian Small & Medium Business Corporation (RSMB Corporation), Russia. It was signed during the visit of Russian President to India in October 2018.

The objective of the MoU is to promote cooperation and enhance enterprise to enterprise cooperation and help initiate sustainable business alliances in terms of technology transfers, joint ventures and business partnerships in the two countries’ MSME sectors.

Cooperation in the field of capacity building, rapid incubation for entrepreneurship development, exposure to each other’s market by encouraging participation in exhibitions are also envisaged in this MoU.

This cooperation is expected to open doors to new opportunities for Indian MSME sector by way of new markets, joint ventures, sharing of best practices and technology collaborations.

A delegation of 32 Indian SMEs participated in the 8th European Congress on SMEs at Kotawice, Poland, held from 17thto 19th October 2018.

India is home to over 63 million MSMEs, which have the ability and capability to access international markets and work as ancillaries to large international companies.

These MSMEs provide livelihood to more than 100 million people and create value for the entire global community. It is imperative to integrate Indian SMEs into the global value chain by establishing linkages with international partners.

The MSMEs participated in the India-Taiwan SME Development Forum was held at Taipei 13-17 Nov 2018.

The Taiwanese believe the Indian MSMEs occupies a position of strategic importance, given that over 63 million MSMEs across various industries that employ more than 111 million people and produce more than 8,000 products, ranging from traditional to high-tech precision items.

India’s MSME sector is the second largest employment generating sector in India after agriculture.

In order to promote a culture of entrepreneurship Government of India has launched programs like Start Up India and Stand Up India which has resulted in India having the 3rd largest start up ecosystem in the world with more than 26,000 start-ups.

Sectors like electronics, auto-components, textiles, automobiles, bamboo industry, in which Taiwan has largest concentration, are of special interest to India.

Twenty enterprises from India in the field of general engineering, auto components, electronics & plastics attended the forum with the aim of seeking linkages in their respective fields with their Taiwanese counterparts.

The MSME Ministry has launched an International Cooperation Scheme for the Indian MSMEs with the objective of technology infusion and upgrades and their modernization and promotion of exports. fiinews.com