Event reports
The conclave started with the tradition of Lighting of the Lamp by the dignitaries followed by National Anthem. Mr. C.M.Krishna (Honorary Advisor, PHDCCI) welcomed the Chief Guest along with the dignitaries sitting on and off the dais as well as the participants of the conclave. In his opening remarks he laid stress on the Importance of the MSMEs in growth of the country and its contribution to the GDP of the country. He said the contribution of the MSMEs cannot be ignored as it is the backbone of any economy and their problems should be dealt with a human touch.. He added that the purpose of the conclave is to bring the Government departments, Financial Institutions and MSME entrepreneurs of all the 6 states on the common plat form. At this platform the MSME spoke out about their expectations from the Government departments, the changes they want in the Industrial Policies and shared about the turbulences which they were going through while running their units.
Mr. Vikram Sahgal (Chairman, Chandigarh Chapter of PHDCCI) while welcoming the delegates spoke about the contribution and role of MSMEs in the growth of the country and also pointed out some of the problems which MSMEs are facing and tried to highlight the key issues of the MSME units. He emphasised that the policies of the Government must be Industry friendly and MSMEs must be consulted whenever any state government comes up with any Industrial policy so that its implementation can be done easily.
Pankaj Madan ( Head Programmes, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung) informed about his organization and the role of their organization as to how they are working as catalysts between entrepreneurs & government with the help of Industrial bodies like PHDCCI and so on. Their main motive is to apprise the MSME units about the different government policies and schemes available to them and help them to face the external pressures. He was of the view that merely policy framing will not work, departments have to work with MSME units so that the policies of the government should trickle down to the bottom of the pyramid, only then the actual results of the policies will come out and industry will flourish.
Mr. Major Singh (Director, MSME Development Institute, Haryana & Punjab) informed the house about the policies of the MSME department that are for the benefit of the MSME units which included new policy of the central government giving approval of loans up to 1 Cr in 59 minutes to MSME units. He also gave information on new public procurement policy. He confessed that the infrastructure in the industrial areas of the region was in bad condition. The focus must be on up- gradation of infrastructure in the industrial areas especially the road connectivity. He said MSME is one man show and they are really going through a very rough phase.
Mr. Kush Tyagi (Business Facilitator GeM) introduced the house to the GeM (Government e-Marketplace) portal. This portal was started in year 2016 and within two years of its existence, different government departments have done purchases worth Rs. 15000 cr through this portal. This is the portal where any product manufacturer can register and sell their products to government. There are 26 service categories included in this portal which can be given to government departments. At present there are 2.5 lacs plus products and 400 different categories of products that are available on this portal. As Per Rule 149 of GFR amended to “Procurement of Goods and Services by Ministries or Department will be mandatory for Goods or Services available on GeM”.
Mr. Rana Ashutosh Kumar Singh (CGM, State Bank of India) as a leading Banker of the country said MSMEs should lead the change for the development of the economy. He promised that their bank is committed to giving best possible services to the MSMEs units by encouraging rural entrepreneurship through trainings.
Ms. Rachna Dikshit (Regional Director, RBI Chandigarh) informed that from time to time they give training to bank officials about different schemes being launched by different banks in collaboration with the industrial schemes of the Government. She assured that such schemes will be promoted with due enthusiasm and further she said, if any units face any problem in getting finances from any bank, then such cases must be brought to the knowledge of RBI. She urged MSME units to have continuous interactions with financial institutions so that both can help each other.
Ms. Vini Mahajan, IAS (Additional Chief Secretary, Department of Industries & Commerce, Govt of Punjab) stated that Government and Industry must have strong bond between each other. Both are the two wheels of growth and both have to work together to achieve the desired growth of the country. She admitted that this region has both entrepreneurial capabilities and capacities. Government is keen to develop entrepreneurial skills in the region. Government wants people should take up entrepreneurship ventures.
She admitted that such conclaves are the need of the hour; it helps both government and industrial units to discuss the problems and issues with each other. She urged the industry to come forward to work together with government so that desired growth in the region can be achieved. “You focus on business, we take care of regulatory procedures” she said.
Mr. R.S.Sachdeva (Chairman, Punjab Chapter) proposed Vote of thanks. He thanked everyone present in the conclave and assured that this conclave will bring some fruitful results. He said the report of this conclave will be presented to government, so that the expectations of the industry can be brought to the notice of the Government. He hoped, that, the discussions of this conclave will help both industry and government to achieve the mutually desired common and individual goals..
On the second day Delegates from MSME units, Government of different region shared their operating experiences. Report on this Technical session will be uploaded on few days.