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President's Message
" Looks like I assumed FISME's Presidentship only yesterday. However, two years have passed as I complete my tenure on 31st March 2017. My heart is filled with a deep sense of gratitude to my colleagues and senior members of the Central Executive Committee who entrusted me this responsibility. Although, as the one knowing the shortcomings too well, no one knows better than me as to what and how I could have contributed much more. Yet, the adulation of my CEC colleagues gives satisfaction that together we could break new grounds during the period. Forays in Defence through MSME Defence Suppliers' Group, expanding FISME’s skill initiative in 22 states, operationalizing social media team and running nationwide campaigns on GST with SIDBI and on Trade Credit with World Bank/IFC are few of the flagship programmes we could hold. We have seeded several new initiatives that my able successor will help and guide flourish. Success is a team work. The dictum is truer for development work in public space. I take this opportunity to say to my CEC colleagues, FISME members, colleagues in the secretariat, our partners and sponsors a big Thank you. But, let me remind them, it’s only my tenure that ends. I shall be around as Executive Member of FISME and shall continue to work towards competitiveness and growth of Indian MSMEs. And together we shall march on………
"
A series of programmes has been scheduled across the country to create awareness among MSMEs on ZED (Zero Effect and Zero Defect) Certification process.
Telangana, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh are the few states where these programmes were held recently. LSSI, KSSIA were the partner associations in their respective states.
The awareness programme aims to create proper awareness amongst MSMEs about ZED Manufacturing and motivate them for assessment of their enterprises for ZED rating. These programmes would help MSMEs to drive manufacturing with adoption of Zero Defect production processes without impacting the environment that is Zero Effect on environment.
Mumbai based Dinesh Chandra Tripathi has been elected as the new President of Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME), the leading federation of 5 crore strong MSME sector of India.
At a meeting of FISME Central Executive Committee held on 22nd March, 2017, members unanimously voted for 48 year old Tripathi, a first generation dynamic entrepreneur from Mumbai. The meeting was conducted by Election Officer Ashok Agarwal.
This year, one of the most valuable lessons was truly internalizing and understanding the gift it is to lead a team. Remember, your team has chosen to work with you. They have chosen to follow your lead and pursue the idea that you had, and they are now helping you make it a reality. Honor your team and lead them in the way that will make them not just better employees, but better people.
The passage of four Bills is a milestone, but the devil lies in the details
The passage of four GST laws in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday — the Central GST Bill, the Integrated GST Bill, the Union Territories GST Bill, and one on compensating the States for the transition — could not have come as a surprise, but the furore it caused certainly did. The Opposition seemed nettled over an issue that has seen years of deliberation between the Centre and the States.
Implementation of GST, the new indirect tax regime, would help remove barriers between the states and make exports more competitive, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today said.
"GST (Goods and Services Tax) gives a feeling that market in India is one now and there are no barriers between regions or provinces.
"Even within the country, the value chains which will get integrated, will have a simpler and straightforward flow (of goods) and therefore, it should make exports more competitive rather than expensive," she told reporters.
The number of companies listed with the SME exchange of BSE has crossed 170 and the total amount of money raised so far is Rs 1,295.79 crore.
BSE SME chief had recently said that the platform will soon complete listing of 200 companies. The bourse now has 171 companies listed, out of which 24 have migrated to main board.
As two companies were suspended to trade on the platform, the exchange has 145 companies eligible for trading.
In the last two days, Mumbai, Maharashtra based Jash Dealmark Limited; Bhilai, Chhattisgarh based Sarthak Metals Limited; and Bhilwara, Rajasthan based Manomay Tex India Limited got listed with BSE SME.
India’s factory activity expanded for a second straight month in February, however, output price inflation also accelerated in February as businesses looked to protect margins in the face of rising cost burdens, highlighted a Survey.
The Nikkei Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index, compiled by IHS Markit, rose to 50.7 in February from 50.4 in January. That beat a Reuters poll median of 50.3 and was the highest level since November.
At 19, Dinesh Manjhi is the breadwinner for his family -- three siblings and a 55-year-old mother. But his tryst with adulthood actually began at 12, when his father took him on a 1,500-km journey from their home in Bihar to a farm in Punjab to work as a seasonal worker. This way, he added a valuable extra to what the father saved to bring back home every season.
Manjhi's father died of illness in 2013 and the funeral costs left him struggling with a massive debt. So the youngster juggled jobs through the year. When he wasn't labouring in Gurdaspur in Punjab..
The government today imposed 10 per cent import duty on wheat and tur dal with immediate effect in a bid to protect farmers’ interest, amid projection of a record crop this year. On December 8, the government had reduced customs duty on wheat to zero from 10 per cent to boost domestic availability and check retail prices. There has been nil duty on tur dal. Announcing the decision in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal said a notification dated March 17, 2012 has further been amended so as to “impose basic customs duty of 10 per cent on wheat and tur, with immediate effect.”
A staggering 68 per cent of Indian MSMEs are completely offline, with only 2 per cent actively selling or promoting their business online, highlights a study conducted jointly by Google and KPMG.
The study titled ‘Impact of Internet and Digitization on SMEs in India’ highlights that the 68% offline Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) have no digital presence and they continue to operate with traditional methods and legacy tools.
The government has proposed subsidy up to Rs 1 lakh for micro and small enterprises to encourage them to use cloud computing for information and communications technology applications.
In cloud computing, MSMEs use Internet to access common as well as tailor-made IT infrastructure, including software, for managing business.
The subsidy will be provided on user charges for 2 years.
The proposals are part of the modified guidelines of the scheme for 'Promotion of Information and Communication Technology in MSME Sector'.
The era we are living in, is very different than the era we were born in. Our character, personality, thoughts and mindsets that shape us and our organization, are indeed under severe stress.
I have been working in the corporate world for the last 30 years. I have seen lot of changes, led many, failed in few, but mostly cherished the outcomes. While I see virtues of change, I am seeing a big difference between the so-called 'old world' and the 'new world' era. The old world changes were gradual, less intense and infrequent.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has set up 10 working groups to look into the concerns raised by trade and industry including MSMEs and facilitate smooth transition into GST regime.
The working groups will address issues related to banking, financial services and insurance sector; telecommunication; exports; information technology; transport and logistics; textiles; micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs); oil and gas; gems and jewellery; and government services.
West Bengal government is all set to export its fishes to Dubai, Japan and China. State fisheries department has bagged orders worth Rs 900 crore to export fishes to these countries.
This is for the first time that the fisheries department has taken up such an initiative that will not only create a market for Bengal's fishes in the foreign countries but also help to uplift the financial condition of the state's fishermen.
With the view to foster trade chain in the SAARC Region and give a common platform to the stakeholders, a seminar on Trade and Business Facilitation was organized in the city.
The seminar was organized by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Indian Industries Association (IIA) along with the support from Ministry of Finance, Government of India, under the aegis of SAARC Trade Promotion Network (SAARC TPN).
South Gujarat will soon get its first common engineering facility centre (CEFC) for textile machinery and allied engineering industry at Bardoli as the foundation stone for the centre has already been laid.
Union Minister of Heavy Industries Anant Geete laid the foundation stone for the CEFC on Sunday. In a tweet, Geete said, “SETU Foundation stone laying ceremony of CECF building at SVP College at Bardoli Gujarat.”
In order to make Ludhiana cycle industry, which is mostly dominated by MSME sector, competitive, National institute of Design (NID) conducted a seminar on Bicycle & Parts Design Awareness.
The programme was organized by United cycle and parts manufacturers association (UCPMA) in which Bindoo Ranjan and Vipul Vinzuda, Co-ordinators of NID, were the key speakers.
UCPMA General Secretary Rajeev Jain said that designing is important aspect of the industry and cycle industry needs expert designers to make new changes in the bicycle industry. This will help industry become globally competitive.
After successfully coordinating a large MSME delegation to 26thTaipei International Machine Tool Show (TIMTOS) in Taiwan earlier this month, Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME) is now taking a delegation to the leading Food exhibition in Taipei, Taiwan.
Taipei International Food Show or popularly known as Food Taipei is one of the largest exhibitions in Taiwan in the food sector.
E-commerce player Snapdeal has joined hands with Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) to showcase products from popular SME brands from Japan on Snapdeal.
JETRO products across various categories including electronic devices, accessories, kitchenware and personal care directly will now be up for sale on Snapdeal website.
Snapdeal will feature a specially curated store exhibiting a slew of products ranging from contact lenses, stationery, electronic device accessories, kitchenware, personal care, storage and display as well as sewing.
India will conduct a joint feasibility study with Georgia to study the feasibility of the proposed Foreign Trade Agreements (FTAs). Meanwhile the Joint Feasibility Study Group Report between the Eurasian Economic Union and its Member States and India has been accepted and 1st meeting of Trade Negotiation Committee will held after mutual consent. In a written reply in the Parliament, Commerce & Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, “The government has received proposals from Georgia and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) for negotiating FTAs.”
Seminar on
New Mechanisms under Trade Facilitation: Bringing down barriers in Import & Export
Date: 03rd April 2017 Venue: Hotel (ITC Fortune Select) Manohar
FISME Delegation to:
Food Taipei 2017 – 27th Edition
(Taipei International Food Show – www.foodtaipei.com.tw)
Date: 20th – 24th June 2017
GDP numbers show note ban worries were exaggerated. Do you agree?
According to the FISME Factor, 80 percent of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises do not agree with the opinion that note ban worries were exaggerated while 20 percent think otherwise.
The truth about company culture and why founders have to walk the talk to define it
During initial days of a startup, it is normal for an entrepreneur to be inundated with multiple pressing concerns. From ensuring all regulatory compliances are met to simultaneously arranging cash flow for operations, entrepreneurs have a lot on their plate.
Compensation and benefits strategy for small businesses
Attracting top talent is critical to growing a business. The natural instinct of an entrepreneur is to hire top talent quickly and not let paucity of talent result in a loss of business opportunity. This leads to high salaries and benefits being offered -- especially for niche technical skills.
Marketing is not what it used to be, says Nestle's Arvind Bhandari
Typical brand tracks calibrate trust with respect to category, ignoring competition. But challengers rarely come from inside. A usual brand track reads as 'how crisp, tasty and thin are my chips?' When perhaps it should ask: 'Would you prefer my chips if they were thicker traditional kettle fried chips'? Or 'How powerful is my disinfectant', instead of 'would you switch if a 'Neem' formulation' was available'?
MSME importers crying as search of fake currency chokes container operations at ICD
The ongoing search operations at the ports to check import of fake currency notes in the country through containers has created a backlog of consignments at the ports due to which heavy demurrage, detention and other costs will be incurred by the MSME importers.
For small business owners, financial management is not just your accountants job
Often it is seen that functions such as production, labour management, and marketing receive their due attention from business owners. Accounting, however, is left to the accountants, who understand it better.
A desi sportswear brand is running to catch up with Nike, Adidas and Puma
What is common between Mary Kom, Sardar Singh, Vijender Singh, Sushil Kumar, the Indian hockey team, Mohun Bagan and East Bengal?
All of them use a brand, Shiv-Naresh, hat has been expanding quietly in the Indian sportswear market.
The Central Statistics Office (CSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, has released the Consumer Price Index numbers on base 2012=100 for rural, urban and combined for the month of June 2016
FISME regularly receives monthly reports on the economies of various countries from their missions in India. These reports provide information on key economic parameters, trade related information and all news relevant for importers and exporters. In this edition you can take a look at reports on:
Write your comments on the FISME Factor. Share your views and suggestions on MSME issues. Win prize! The best mail will get a special book every fortnight.
send mail to: newsletter@fisme.org.in
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This Newsletter is edited by the FISME Secretariat. We welcome contributions as well as comments and suggestions. Please write to newsletter@fisme.org.in
" Looks like I assumed FISME's Presidentship only yesterday. However, two years have passed as I complete my tenure on 31st March 2017. My heart is filled with a deep sense of gratitude to my colleagues and senior members of the Central Executive Committee who entrusted me this responsibility. Although, as the one knowing the shortcomings too well, no one knows better than me as to what and how I could have contributed much more. Yet, the adulation of my CEC colleagues gives satisfaction that together we could break new grounds during the period. Forays in Defence through MSME Defence Suppliers' Group, expanding FISME’s skill initiative in 22 states, operationalizing social media team and running nationwide campaigns on GST with SIDBI and on Trade Credit with World Bank/IFC are few of the flagship programmes we could hold. We have seeded several new initiatives that my able successor will help and guide flourish. Success is a team work. The dictum is truer for development work in public space. I take this opportunity to say to my CEC colleagues, FISME members, colleagues in the secretariat, our partners and sponsors a big Thank you. But, let me remind them, it’s only my tenure that ends. I shall be around as Executive Member of FISME and shall continue to work towards competitiveness and growth of Indian MSMEs. And together we shall march on………
"
A series of programmes has been scheduled across the country to create awareness among MSMEs on ZED (Zero Effect and Zero Defect) Certification process.
Telangana, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh are the few states where these programmes were held recently. LSSI, KSSIA were the partner associations in their respective states.
The awareness programme aims to create proper awareness amongst MSMEs about ZED Manufacturing and motivate them for assessment of their enterprises for ZED rating. These programmes would help MSMEs to drive manufacturing with adoption of Zero Defect production processes without impacting the environment that is Zero Effect on environment.
Mumbai based Dinesh Chandra Tripathi has been elected as the new President of Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME), the leading federation of 5 crore strong MSME sector of India.
At a meeting of FISME Central Executive Committee held on 22nd March, 2017, members unanimously voted for 48 year old Tripathi, a first generation dynamic entrepreneur from Mumbai. The meeting was conducted by Election Officer Ashok Agarwal.
This year, one of the most valuable lessons was truly internalizing and understanding the gift it is to lead a team. Remember, your team has chosen to work with you. They have chosen to follow your lead and pursue the idea that you had, and they are now helping you make it a reality. Honor your team and lead them in the way that will make them not just better employees, but better people.
Implementation of GST, the new indirect tax regime, would help remove barriers between the states and make exports more competitive, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today said.
"GST (Goods and Services Tax) gives a feeling that market in India is one now and there are no barriers between regions or provinces.
"Even within the country, the value chains which will get integrated, will have a simpler and straightforward flow (of goods) and therefore, it should make exports more competitive rather than expensive," she told reporters.
The number of companies listed with the SME exchange of BSE has crossed 170 and the total amount of money raised so far is Rs 1,295.79 crore.
BSE SME chief had recently said that the platform will soon complete listing of 200 companies. The bourse now has 171 companies listed, out of which 24 have migrated to main board.
As two companies were suspended to trade on the platform, the exchange has 145 companies eligible for trading.
In the last two days, Mumbai, Maharashtra based Jash Dealmark Limited; Bhilai, Chhattisgarh based Sarthak Metals Limited; and Bhilwara, Rajasthan based Manomay Tex India Limited got listed with BSE SME.
India’s factory activity expanded for a second straight month in February, however, output price inflation also accelerated in February as businesses looked to protect margins in the face of rising cost burdens, highlighted a Survey.
The Nikkei Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index, compiled by IHS Markit, rose to 50.7 in February from 50.4 in January. That beat a Reuters poll median of 50.3 and was the highest level since November.
At 19, Dinesh Manjhi is the breadwinner for his family -- three siblings and a 55-year-old mother. But his tryst with adulthood actually began at 12, when his father took him on a 1,500-km journey from their home in Bihar to a farm in Punjab to work as a seasonal worker. This way, he added a valuable extra to what the father saved to bring back home every season.
Manjhi's father died of illness in 2013 and the funeral costs left him struggling with a massive debt. So the youngster juggled jobs through the year. When he wasn't labouring in Gurdaspur in Punjab..
The government today imposed 10 per cent import duty on wheat and tur dal with immediate effect in a bid to protect farmers’ interest, amid projection of a record crop this year. On December 8, the government had reduced customs duty on wheat to zero from 10 per cent to boost domestic availability and check retail prices. There has been nil duty on tur dal. Announcing the decision in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal said a notification dated March 17, 2012 has further been amended so as to “impose basic customs duty of 10 per cent on wheat and tur, with immediate effect.”
A staggering 68 per cent of Indian MSMEs are completely offline, with only 2 per cent actively selling or promoting their business online, highlights a study conducted jointly by Google and KPMG.
The study titled ‘Impact of Internet and Digitization on SMEs in India’ highlights that the 68% offline Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) have no digital presence and they continue to operate with traditional methods and legacy tools.
The government has proposed subsidy up to Rs 1 lakh for micro and small enterprises to encourage them to use cloud computing for information and communications technology applications.
In cloud computing, MSMEs use Internet to access common as well as tailor-made IT infrastructure, including software, for managing business.
The subsidy will be provided on user charges for 2 years.
The proposals are part of the modified guidelines of the scheme for 'Promotion of Information and Communication Technology in MSME Sector'.
The era we are living in, is very different than the era we were born in. Our character, personality, thoughts and mindsets that shape us and our organization, are indeed under severe stress.
I have been working in the corporate world for the last 30 years. I have seen lot of changes, led many, failed in few, but mostly cherished the outcomes. While I see virtues of change, I am seeing a big difference between the so-called 'old world' and the 'new world' era. The old world changes were gradual, less intense and infrequent.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has set up 10 working groups to look into the concerns raised by trade and industry including MSMEs and facilitate smooth transition into GST regime.
The working groups will address issues related to banking, financial services and insurance sector; telecommunication; exports; information technology; transport and logistics; textiles; micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs); oil and gas; gems and jewellery; and government services.
West Bengal government is all set to export its fishes to Dubai, Japan and China. State fisheries department has bagged orders worth Rs 900 crore to export fishes to these countries.
This is for the first time that the fisheries department has taken up such an initiative that will not only create a market for Bengal's fishes in the foreign countries but also help to uplift the financial condition of the state's fishermen.
With the view to foster trade chain in the SAARC Region and give a common platform to the stakeholders, a seminar on Trade and Business Facilitation was organized in the city.
The seminar was organized by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Indian Industries Association (IIA) along with the support from Ministry of Finance, Government of India, under the aegis of SAARC Trade Promotion Network (SAARC TPN).
South Gujarat will soon get its first common engineering facility centre (CEFC) for textile machinery and allied engineering industry at Bardoli as the foundation stone for the centre has already been laid.
Union Minister of Heavy Industries Anant Geete laid the foundation stone for the CEFC on Sunday. In a tweet, Geete said, “SETU Foundation stone laying ceremony of CECF building at SVP College at Bardoli Gujarat.”
In order to make Ludhiana cycle industry, which is mostly dominated by MSME sector, competitive, National institute of Design (NID) conducted a seminar on Bicycle & Parts Design Awareness.
The programme was organized by United cycle and parts manufacturers association (UCPMA) in which Bindoo Ranjan and Vipul Vinzuda, Co-ordinators of NID, were the key speakers.
UCPMA General Secretary Rajeev Jain said that designing is important aspect of the industry and cycle industry needs expert designers to make new changes in the bicycle industry. This will help industry become globally competitive.
After successfully coordinating a large MSME delegation to 26thTaipei International Machine Tool Show (TIMTOS) in Taiwan earlier this month, Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME) is now taking a delegation to the leading Food exhibition in Taipei, Taiwan.
Taipei International Food Show or popularly known as Food Taipei is one of the largest exhibitions in Taiwan in the food sector.
E-commerce player Snapdeal has joined hands with Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) to showcase products from popular SME brands from Japan on Snapdeal.
JETRO products across various categories including electronic devices, accessories, kitchenware and personal care directly will now be up for sale on Snapdeal website.
Snapdeal will feature a specially curated store exhibiting a slew of products ranging from contact lenses, stationery, electronic device accessories, kitchenware, personal care, storage and display as well as sewing.
India will conduct a joint feasibility study with Georgia to study the feasibility of the proposed Foreign Trade Agreements (FTAs). Meanwhile the Joint Feasibility Study Group Report between the Eurasian Economic Union and its Member States and India has been accepted and 1st meeting of Trade Negotiation Committee will held after mutual consent. In a written reply in the Parliament, Commerce & Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, “The government has received proposals from Georgia and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) for negotiating FTAs.”
According to the FISME Factor, 80 percent of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises do not agree with the opinion that note ban worries were exaggerated while 20 percent think otherwise. 
During initial days of a startup, it is normal for an entrepreneur to be inundated with multiple pressing concerns. From ensuring all regulatory compliances are met to simultaneously arranging cash flow for operations, entrepreneurs have a lot on their plate.
Attracting top talent is critical to growing a business. The natural instinct of an entrepreneur is to hire top talent quickly and not let paucity of talent result in a loss of business opportunity. This leads to high salaries and benefits being offered -- especially for niche technical skills.
Typical brand tracks calibrate trust with respect to category, ignoring competition. But challengers rarely come from inside. A usual brand track reads as 'how crisp, tasty and thin are my chips?' When perhaps it should ask: 'Would you prefer my chips if they were thicker traditional kettle fried chips'? Or 'How powerful is my disinfectant', instead of 'would you switch if a 'Neem' formulation' was available'?
The ongoing search operations at the ports to check import of fake currency notes in the country through containers has created a backlog of consignments at the ports due to which heavy demurrage, detention and other costs will be incurred by the MSME importers.
Often it is seen that functions such as production, labour management, and marketing receive their due attention from business owners. Accounting, however, is left to the accountants, who understand it better.
What is common between Mary Kom, Sardar Singh, Vijender Singh, Sushil Kumar, the Indian hockey team, Mohun Bagan and East Bengal?
All of them use a brand, Shiv-Naresh, hat has been expanding quietly in the Indian sportswear market.
“The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers. ”
