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President's Message
A recent directive issued by Haryana government for private sector asking them to reserve 75% of jobs for local youth has set the cat free among the pigeons. The dictat is for employees drawing salary of below Rs. 50,000 per month. Its impact would be devastating on apparel industry in Gurgaon-Manesar-Faridabad belt which clocked a revenue of over $ 3 Bn with one million employees almost all of whom are migratory workforce because local youth is neither skilled nor willing to work at the lower end. The IT/ITES industry also has raised serious concerns and expect relocation of many industries if the rules are indeed enforced. Almost a quarter of MNCs in India have presence in Haryana. They have developed supply chains and therefore a large number of MSME vendors are also have their factories here in auto, electronics and light engineering. What is worrying is that the idea seems to have caught on. Saddled with poor economic performance after Covid and loss of jobs all around, more and more political parties are resorting to these short term measures to arrest unpopularity. Though one can take solace from the fact that such promises were meant for making political statement and have never been implemented. Gujarat promised 85% reservation for locals (1995), Maharashtra 80%, Karnataka even tried 100% (2016) and Tamil Nadu reserved 50% jobs for locals. Madhya Pradesh and Telangana have also experimented with such reservations for locals in private sector jobs. Even if these promises were never meant to be implemented and might as well not see light of the day in Haryana, they create uncertainties and increase cost of doing business. Local officials will harass businesses and seek rent. Such moves are retrograde and will make India’s economic resurgence difficult and unsustainable
"
In the series of consultations for import substitution in select clusters, Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME) in association with MSMEDI, Ludhiana organized a virtual discussion with the stakeholders to strengthen the domestic manufacturing of Dyed fabrics, Knitted or crocheted of Synthetic fabric on 3rd March 2021.
The discussions were organized as part of project ‘Creating a Roadmap for Substituting Chinese Imports by Building Manufacturing Capability in 15 Identified MSME Clusters being sponsored by SIDBI with Center for WTO studies as a knowledge partner.
Recently, I was in a Zoom meeting where a founder was panicking at the prospect of closing his Series A. I was taken aback as I expected him to be proud of this achievement. Immediately, I asked him why he was concerned.
“Taking on this capital requires us giving up a board seat,” said the founder. “This means that the investor who takes a seat on the board will really be able to exercise control. It’ll be over. I don’t know what to do!”
Domicile-based preferential policies indict the economy as a whole, suggesting a pessimism about both education and job creation
The Haryana government’s State Employment of Local Candidates Bill 2020 is constitutionally dubious, economically myopic, socially divisive and politically cynical. The Bill reserves 75 per cent of new jobs in private establishments under a compensation threshold of Rs 50,000 for Haryana residents. This is part of a growing pattern of domicile-based preferential policies, where state after state is flirting with laws of this kind. ...
India has attracted a total Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow of 67.54 billion dollars during April to December 2020, said a data shared by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry on Thursday.
It is the highest ever for the first ninth months of a financial year and 22 per cent higher as compared to the first ninth months of 2019-20 (55.14 billion dollars), the data added. FDI equity inflow grew by 40 per cent in the first 9 months of F.Y. 2020-21 to 51.47 billion dollars compared to 36.77 billion dollars year ago period.
The Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) signals a great opportunity for Indian businesses to partner with African counterparts to deepen their integration and accelerate their development, said Rahul Chhabra, Secretary-Economic Relations, Ministry of External Affairs.
Addressing the Inaugural programme of Namaskar Africa organized by FICCI, he said that Indian companies must take advantage of the enormous change that is taking place in Africa.
The total vehicle retail sales in the month of February fell by 13.43 percent on-year, according to data released by the industry body Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations of India (FADA).
Passenger vehicles showed double-digit growth at 10.59 percent, YoY. This growth was majorly due to the low base of last year as India had started transitioning from BS-4 to BS-6 emission norms, FADA said in the release. On a YoY basis, two-wheeler, three-wheeler and commercial vehicle registrations continued their fall by 16.08 per cent, 49.65 per cent and 29.53 percent, respectively.
Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday virtually inaugurated two technology centres at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, three extension centres of big technological centres and seven mobile Udyam Express.
Speaking on the occasion, Gadkari said, “if the country has to overcome three biggest problems of poverty, starvation and unemployment, then we have to create jobs”. He also emphasised on conversion of knowledge into wealth.
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has announced setting up a dedicated portal named “Atmanirbhar Niveshak Mitra” to digitally facilitate investors.
“The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), the Ministry of Commerce and Industry is in the process of finalising a dedicated digital portal,” a statement issued by the government said on firday. The portal is in testing phase and the final version will be ready for launch by 15 May 2021. The webpage will also be available in regional languages and mobile apps in due course, it said.
The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has notified the amended rules on plastic waste management named ''Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, 2021'' which proposes to prohibit the manufacture, use, sale, import and handling of some of the single-use plastic items on a pan India basis.
''Considering the high environmental costs associated with management of single-use plastics, particularly the adverse effect on marine environment, and the need for a definitive action
Consulting Engineers Association of India (CEAI) an apex body of consulting engineers in the country has urged Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi to revisit the age old existing tendering system in the country based on the Least Cost Selection Method or change L1 post haste for consultancy works as well as construction works and procurement of goods. “For Complex projects like Expressway, Tunnels, Power Plants which require specialized state-of-art-technology, these should be awarded on Quality and cost Based Selection (QCBS) 90:10 basis (Technical Weightage 90 per cent and Financial Weightage 10 per cent).
Fed up with the difficulties industrial consumers face with electricity distribution companies, entrepreneurs in the districts have come together to form UP Industrial Vidyut Upbhokta Parishad.
In a press conference on Sunday, Parishads Chairman, KL Agarwal said the authorities are not sensitive to the problems in the power department and even for small problems there is a requirement of a middle man. ''In the wake of such negligence, entrepreneurs have come together to set up UP Industrial Vidyut Upbhokta Parishad to solve their problems,'' he added.
As the COVID-19 cases are coming back, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) in the city has expressed concern over the safety of its workforce.
In this regard, on Sunday, the Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertaking (CICU) has sent a representation to MSME Minister Nitin Gadkari and Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan where the industry body said that the second wave of COVID had set the alarm bells ringing.
The Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has asked Directorate of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises to strengthen the MSME role in Aerospace and Defence, Toy Industry, Services sector, Construction and Industrial Parks.
He stated this while presenting the state budget for the year 2021-22 during the ongoing budget session of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha on Friday. Khattar, who also holds the Finance portfolio, said that at present the state government has been consistently taking effective measures to improve the Ease of Doing Business (EODB), strengthen physical infrastructure, and promote growth in the thrust sectors.
Union Minister of state for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Pratap Chandra Sarangi has inaugurated Odisha's First Pharmaceutical Common Facilitation Centre (CFC) here.
The CFC, a two-storied building, set up under the Centre’s micro and small enterprises-cluster development programme (MSE-CDP) in association with the state MSME department and the Utkal Pharmaceuticals Manufacturers Association (UPMA) with an estimated cost of Rs 2.93 crore.
What worked in favour of recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) is the quick transition to flexible means of delivering work last year. Obviously, technology played an important role here. The approach of these RPOs, driven by artificial intelligence (AI) and machine-learning (ML) has already made recruitment a smooth process.
Funding: What Is Entrepreneur Capital vs. Venture Capital?
After almost two decades spent financing startups and early-stage ventures, it occurred to me that we use many different phrases and concepts without much deeper thought and they become part of the standard lexicon of the founders and investors they work with. Venture Capital, or VC, is more nuanced than one might first think. I started to look through the other end of the telescope and, as an investor, wanted to adopt a more founder-focused perspective to how startups are successfully funded.
How to Make Your Product More Accessible to Customers
Some businesses want their products to appeal to a small niche; others to a large market. But no business wants customers to be unable to use their products at all. As the world’s consumer base grows, so too do the number of users who need to be considered when optimizing accessibility.
Aluminium industry seeks 5 per cent RoDTEP rate to boost exports
The Aluminium Association of India (AAI) has sought immediate support for notifying at least five per cent remission rate for Aluminium sector under RoDTEP scheme to ensure its global competitiveness and realize its immense potential to double exports worth 10 billion dollars Forex earnings for the country.
This ex-banker’s agri-fintech startup has disbursed loans worth Rs 6,000 Cr to 4M farmers
Veteran banker Anilkumar SG’s initiation into rural finance happened in 2007, when he joined IFMR Trust, and was tasked with developing a micro-finance solution known as Kshetriya Gramin Financial Services (KGFS). As part of the role, he and his team had to profile India’s low-income households and track their assets and liabilities.
How this apparel manufacturing marketplace is solving the global supply chain challenge through technology and sustainability
Hailing from Dausa district in Rajasthan, Abhishek Sharma wanted to make a difference to the community around him by empowering small and medium entrepreneurs - the backbone of Indian economy. He wanted to do this by providing them with an ecosystem of complete transparency, and where the MSMEs get a chance to work with both national as well as international brands to earn more profits.
The National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has released the quick estimates of index of industrial production and use-based index for the month of January, 2021 (Base 2011-12=100)
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:
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A recent directive issued by Haryana government for private sector asking them to reserve 75% of jobs for local youth has set the cat free among the pigeons. The dictat is for employees drawing salary of below Rs. 50,000 per month. Its impact would be devastating on apparel industry in Gurgaon-Manesar-Faridabad belt which clocked a revenue of over $ 3 Bn with one million employees almost all of whom are migratory workforce because local youth is neither skilled nor willing to work at the lower end. The IT/ITES industry also has raised serious concerns and expect relocation of many industries if the rules are indeed enforced. Almost a quarter of MNCs in India have presence in Haryana. They have developed supply chains and therefore a large number of MSME vendors are also have their factories here in auto, electronics and light engineering. What is worrying is that the idea seems to have caught on. Saddled with poor economic performance after Covid and loss of jobs all around, more and more political parties are resorting to these short term measures to arrest unpopularity. Though one can take solace from the fact that such promises were meant for making political statement and have never been implemented. Gujarat promised 85% reservation for locals (1995), Maharashtra 80%, Karnataka even tried 100% (2016) and Tamil Nadu reserved 50% jobs for locals. Madhya Pradesh and Telangana have also experimented with such reservations for locals in private sector jobs. Even if these promises were never meant to be implemented and might as well not see light of the day in Haryana, they create uncertainties and increase cost of doing business. Local officials will harass businesses and seek rent. Such moves are retrograde and will make India’s economic resurgence difficult and unsustainable
"
In the series of consultations for import substitution in select clusters, Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME) in association with MSMEDI, Ludhiana organized a virtual discussion with the stakeholders to strengthen the domestic manufacturing of Dyed fabrics, Knitted or crocheted of Synthetic fabric on 3rd March 2021.
The discussions were organized as part of project ‘Creating a Roadmap for Substituting Chinese Imports by Building Manufacturing Capability in 15 Identified MSME Clusters being sponsored by SIDBI with Center for WTO studies as a knowledge partner.
Recently, I was in a Zoom meeting where a founder was panicking at the prospect of closing his Series A. I was taken aback as I expected him to be proud of this achievement. Immediately, I asked him why he was concerned.
“Taking on this capital requires us giving up a board seat,” said the founder. “This means that the investor who takes a seat on the board will really be able to exercise control. It’ll be over. I don’t know what to do!”
India has attracted a total Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow of 67.54 billion dollars during April to December 2020, said a data shared by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry on Thursday.
It is the highest ever for the first ninth months of a financial year and 22 per cent higher as compared to the first ninth months of 2019-20 (55.14 billion dollars), the data added. FDI equity inflow grew by 40 per cent in the first 9 months of F.Y. 2020-21 to 51.47 billion dollars compared to 36.77 billion dollars year ago period.
The Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) signals a great opportunity for Indian businesses to partner with African counterparts to deepen their integration and accelerate their development, said Rahul Chhabra, Secretary-Economic Relations, Ministry of External Affairs.
Addressing the Inaugural programme of Namaskar Africa organized by FICCI, he said that Indian companies must take advantage of the enormous change that is taking place in Africa.
The total vehicle retail sales in the month of February fell by 13.43 percent on-year, according to data released by the industry body Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations of India (FADA).
Passenger vehicles showed double-digit growth at 10.59 percent, YoY. This growth was majorly due to the low base of last year as India had started transitioning from BS-4 to BS-6 emission norms, FADA said in the release. On a YoY basis, two-wheeler, three-wheeler and commercial vehicle registrations continued their fall by 16.08 per cent, 49.65 per cent and 29.53 percent, respectively.
Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday virtually inaugurated two technology centres at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, three extension centres of big technological centres and seven mobile Udyam Express.
Speaking on the occasion, Gadkari said, “if the country has to overcome three biggest problems of poverty, starvation and unemployment, then we have to create jobs”. He also emphasised on conversion of knowledge into wealth.
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has announced setting up a dedicated portal named “Atmanirbhar Niveshak Mitra” to digitally facilitate investors.
“The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), the Ministry of Commerce and Industry is in the process of finalising a dedicated digital portal,” a statement issued by the government said on firday. The portal is in testing phase and the final version will be ready for launch by 15 May 2021. The webpage will also be available in regional languages and mobile apps in due course, it said.
The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has notified the amended rules on plastic waste management named ''Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, 2021'' which proposes to prohibit the manufacture, use, sale, import and handling of some of the single-use plastic items on a pan India basis.
''Considering the high environmental costs associated with management of single-use plastics, particularly the adverse effect on marine environment, and the need for a definitive action
Consulting Engineers Association of India (CEAI) an apex body of consulting engineers in the country has urged Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi to revisit the age old existing tendering system in the country based on the Least Cost Selection Method or change L1 post haste for consultancy works as well as construction works and procurement of goods. “For Complex projects like Expressway, Tunnels, Power Plants which require specialized state-of-art-technology, these should be awarded on Quality and cost Based Selection (QCBS) 90:10 basis (Technical Weightage 90 per cent and Financial Weightage 10 per cent).
Fed up with the difficulties industrial consumers face with electricity distribution companies, entrepreneurs in the districts have come together to form UP Industrial Vidyut Upbhokta Parishad.
In a press conference on Sunday, Parishads Chairman, KL Agarwal said the authorities are not sensitive to the problems in the power department and even for small problems there is a requirement of a middle man. ''In the wake of such negligence, entrepreneurs have come together to set up UP Industrial Vidyut Upbhokta Parishad to solve their problems,'' he added.
As the COVID-19 cases are coming back, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) in the city has expressed concern over the safety of its workforce.
In this regard, on Sunday, the Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertaking (CICU) has sent a representation to MSME Minister Nitin Gadkari and Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan where the industry body said that the second wave of COVID had set the alarm bells ringing.
The Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has asked Directorate of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises to strengthen the MSME role in Aerospace and Defence, Toy Industry, Services sector, Construction and Industrial Parks.
He stated this while presenting the state budget for the year 2021-22 during the ongoing budget session of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha on Friday. Khattar, who also holds the Finance portfolio, said that at present the state government has been consistently taking effective measures to improve the Ease of Doing Business (EODB), strengthen physical infrastructure, and promote growth in the thrust sectors.
Union Minister of state for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Pratap Chandra Sarangi has inaugurated Odisha's First Pharmaceutical Common Facilitation Centre (CFC) here.
The CFC, a two-storied building, set up under the Centre’s micro and small enterprises-cluster development programme (MSE-CDP) in association with the state MSME department and the Utkal Pharmaceuticals Manufacturers Association (UPMA) with an estimated cost of Rs 2.93 crore.
According to FISME factor 50% of MSMEs think that the production back at pre COVID level, 25% think that it is not while 25% can’t say. 
What worked in favour of recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) is the quick transition to flexible means of delivering work last year. Obviously, technology played an important role here. The approach of these RPOs, driven by artificial intelligence (AI) and machine-learning (ML) has already made recruitment a smooth process.
After almost two decades spent financing startups and early-stage ventures, it occurred to me that we use many different phrases and concepts without much deeper thought and they become part of the standard lexicon of the founders and investors they work with. Venture Capital, or VC, is more nuanced than one might first think. I started to look through the other end of the telescope and, as an investor, wanted to adopt a more founder-focused perspective to how startups are successfully funded.
Some businesses want their products to appeal to a small niche; others to a large market. But no business wants customers to be unable to use their products at all. As the world’s consumer base grows, so too do the number of users who need to be considered when optimizing accessibility.
The Aluminium Association of India (AAI) has sought immediate support for notifying at least five per cent remission rate for Aluminium sector under RoDTEP scheme to ensure its global competitiveness and realize its immense potential to double exports worth 10 billion dollars Forex earnings for the country.
Veteran banker Anilkumar SG’s initiation into rural finance happened in 2007, when he joined IFMR Trust, and was tasked with developing a micro-finance solution known as Kshetriya Gramin Financial Services (KGFS). As part of the role, he and his team had to profile India’s low-income households and track their assets and liabilities.
Hailing from Dausa district in Rajasthan, Abhishek Sharma wanted to make a difference to the community around him by empowering small and medium entrepreneurs - the backbone of Indian economy. He wanted to do this by providing them with an ecosystem of complete transparency, and where the MSMEs get a chance to work with both national as well as international brands to earn more profits.
