MSME Ministry Reviews it's 2016 Initiatives

Various initiatives taken by MSME Minstry for the upliftment of MSMEs in 2016 includes key decision to create Indian Enterprises Development Service (IEDS) along with other measures such as foundation laying ceremony of MSME Technology Centre at Greater Noida, MSME EXPO 2016.

NEW DELHI: In an official release, the Ministry informed that Cabinet has approved creation of IEDS in the Office of Development Commissioner (MSME) under the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises

The creation of the new cadre and change in structure will not only strengthen the organization but will also help to achieve the vision of “Startup India”, “Stand-up India” and “Make in India”.

Further, the Ministry informed about the Foundation Stone Laying Ceremony of MSME Technology Centre at Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh under Technology Centre Systems Programme (TCSP) & National Vendor Development Programme

This Technology Centre is one of the 15 new Technology Centres that are being established in the country by Ministry of MSME.

This Centre will provide support to Electronics Systems Design & Manufacturing (ESDM) and automotive electronics sector particularly MSMEs towards their technological and skilled manpower requirements.

The Programme would be implemented at an estimated cost of Rs. 2,200 crore including World Bank loan assistance of US $ 200 million. For the Technology Centre, Greater Noida, Government of India would be investing more than Rs.145 crore for creating facilities towards plant & machinery, development of civil and associate infrastructure.

The MSME Ministry also organized MSME EXPO 2016 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. MSME Expo 2016 was organized by Ministry of MSME in the 36th IITF 2016. Over 80 enterprises have showcased their range of products during the trade fair.

The theme of the fair was “Quality Manufacturing and Inclusive Growth of MSMEs” which includes Zero Defect, Zero Effect (ZED) Certification Scheme, SC/ST Hub & National Award.

The National SC/ST Hub was also launched on 8th October 2016 in Ludhiana by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Ministry of MSME has made an initial allotment of allocation of Rs. 490 crore for the period 2016-2020 for the National SC/ST Hub. The Hub would primarily aid in strengthening market access/linkage, monitoring, capacity building, leveraging financial support schemes and sharing industry best practices etc. The hub would operate from National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) Headquarters in Delhi, supported by a special cell created for this purpose.

The public procurement order mandates 4% annual procurement by Central Ministries/ Departments and Public Sector Undertakings from SC/ST enterprises w.e.f 01.04.2015. It has been reported that at present the Government of India procurement form SC/ST enterprises in less than 1% due to low participation of the community. This needs to be scaled up to meet the procurement target for SC/ST.

In the past, there has been some increase in the number of SC/ST owned enterprises but this number needs to increase substantially to enable the socio-economic empowerment of SC/ST communities. In this direction, the National SC/ST Hub in an initiative of the Government of India targeted towards developing a supportive ecosystem towards SC/ST entrepreneurs.

The Ministry also initiated formation of MSME Databank and Finance Facilitation Launched at 14th Meeting of National Board .

The objective of the databank is to have one-stop source of information of MSMEs of India, including their credit and technology, requirement in terms of raw material and marketing, etc. A decision has also been taken that no grant or subsidy will be given to any MSMEs unless the data is captured on the MSME Databank.

To boost Khadi, a Giant Charkha unveiled at IGI Airport, Delhi which 42 carpenters from Ahmedabad built the Charkha in 55 days.

An incubation cell was launched at IIFT Delhi to enable young entrepreneurs to get all the expert advice and technical guidance at one point. The cell has been designed to provide export start-ups with necessary hand holding support towards expanding their existing domestic business to foreign markets, he added

The initiative is named as “KITTES (Knowledge for Innovation in Trade & Technology for Entrepreneurial Start-ups), a dynamic business incubation cell dedicated to startups in the domain of international business. Run by the Centre of MSME Studies at IIFT (Delhi), the aim of KITTES is to provide hand holding support for MSME start-ups right from ideation stage to their internationalization towards taking a final leap into foreign markets.