Roar For SME Community

After independence we have seen our fair share of conflicts, struggles, and setbacks. India still faces many challenges, but now it is poised to reach a higher position on the world scene than at any previous time.

A roar of lion is filled with victory and joy. It is time for SMEs to be fearless like lions. The SME community can gain a lot if they contribute towards this initiative of Make in India.

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) play a vital role in the industrial development of any country. The importance of this sector is well recognized worldwide due to its significant contribution to gratifying various socio-economic objectives, such as higher growth of employment, output, promotion of exports and fostering entrepreneurship.

Recently, the Prime Minister charmed the global community and national industries with his enthusiastic promotion of his “Make in India” campaign, inviting international manufacturers to come and conduct their core operations in India. Global businesses are looking towards India and creating new opportunities for small enterprises and start-ups.

India’s economy is divided between agriculture which accounts for a quarter of the gross national product, manufacturing constituting another quarter, and the high-tech service sector which now makes up a full half of the gross national product. Striving to become a “knowledge superpower,” it hopes to skip the intermediate step of industrial development that has preceded other nations’ march into the Information Age.

The primary factors of production, large availability of labour, and ready access to capital work quite well to lay a solid foundation for a thriving manufacturing sector in India. Labour has traditionally been seen as a major strength, even though historically labour has been regarded as cheap but relatively unskilled. That is changing quickly, because even though businesses are still able to avail the service of indigenous labourers at increasing but still cost-effective rates, overall, the training, skill and expertise of the average Indian worker has shot up significantly over the past few decades.

As for capital, banks and financial services companies are ready, willing and able to provide loans to new businesses, and SMEs in the manufacturing sector in particular have various government schemes and subsidies they can profitably utilize. Banks have seen credit and restructuring default rates go down compared to other sectors, and are willing to provide capital on demand to most.

The government is attempting to pitch these factors to invite foreign manufacturers interested in establishing India as their base. After weathering this crunch time, it is now gradually beginning to pick up again and has returned to solid growth, so that it remains on course for the 2025 target of accounting for close to a hundred million jobs.

So now roar with all the power of a mighty lion. Be fuelled, not fooled!