If you are unable to view this mailer, click here.
President's Message
"
The latest GDP growth figures reiterates what we at FISME have been raising on the FISME Factor that manufacturing continues to be under severe distress. The Factory output grew barely 0.1 % in the previous quarter sliding from 3.5% from previous one. While it is universally expected that RBI would reduce interest rates this time around, much more is needed to be done at the level of Government to kick-start the engine of growth. As the Union Budget is still a few months away, policy makers should look at MSMEs, who have suffered from the slow-down and are finding difficult to stay afloat, and announce support measures including ensuring timely payment due to them and liberal restructuring of loans.
Awards for “Responsible Indian BMOs”
At India International Centre, New Delhi, March 17, 2015
Organised by
Foundation for MSME Clusters (FMC) under European Union (EU) co-funded project “Scaling up Sustainable Development of MSME Clusters in India”
FISME organised ‘Profit Mantras for Business”- yet another programme in a nationwide series of workshops for bringing in practical wisdom to entrepreneurs on 21st November 2014 at Sheraton Park Hotel & Towers in Chennai. This was organised in association with The Madras Chamber of Commerce & Industry (MCCI).
Mr. S.G. Prabhakharan, President, The Madras Chamber of Commerce & Industry welcomed the delegates which was followed by the opening remarks by Mr. Mukesh Kalra, Joint Secretary, International Trade, FISME.
About a year ago, we at SocialCops set out to raise our first seed round. We were three months into working on SocialCops full time, had got our first revenue deals; had some clarity on the direction we’d like the company to take and wanted to convert our pilot to a business.
We were novices – 21 year olds from a university in Singapore — trying to figure out a way to use data to solve real life problems in India. Honestly, while I was working in Goldman Sachs on trading derivatives, I had no idea how to raise capital for a startup! Yes, you heard right – consulting & investment banking is not going to help you learn how to startup. The only thing that will teach you how to startup is working at a startup or building a startup!
In May 2014, we raised a round of funding from 500 Startups, Rajan Anandan (MD, Google India) and Manoj Menon (MD, Frost & Sullivan APAC). During the process, my Co-founder, Varun and I had the fortune of being helped along by some wonderful people who doubled up as advisors. We also owe a lot of what we know to Paul Graham, Techcrunch and Startup School videos.
A challenge in today’s world.. is a surplus of savings in some parts of the world with no clue where to deploy them profitably and securely. This is an opportunity for India. The government should catalyse a flow of these external savings to a specified corpus that invests in bonds issued by small and medium enterprises (SMEs). .....The government should allow Sidbi to tap the global pool of savings to create a large corpus for buying bonds issued by SMEs, priced according to their credit profile and general credit conditions.
(South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) countries on Thursday managed to salvage their summit by agreeing to a last-minute deal to trade electricity among them after Pakistan torpedoed proposals backed by India and other nations of the bloc for greater regional connectivity.
Before the Saarc Summit concluded here, foreign ministers of all the eight countries signed the framework agreement on cooperation in the power sector which would ensure electricity trading through grid connectivity but the two pacts on motor vehicle and railways could not be inked, following resistance by Pakistan.
Pakistan had opposed the energy pact, citing non-completion of internal process but finally agreed to sign it after heads of states and governments took up the matter with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at a retreat session in Dhulikhel.
Government has fixed an export target of $340 billion for the current fiscal, Commerce and Industry Minister NirmalaSitharaman said today.
Exports had registered a growth of 4.7 per cent at $314.4 billion in the previous fiscal.
Japan and the US contributed 1.84 per cent and 13.75 per cent respectively to total exports during April-September period of the current year, Sitharaman said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.
Growth rate of exports entered the negative zone after a gap of six months, declining 5.04 per cent in October due to a dip in shipments from engineering, pharma and gems and jewellery.
In a separate reply, she said that the long-term vision of the government is to increase India's exports of merchandise and services from present level of $464.1 billion to about $900 billion by 2018-19 (CAGR of about 14 per cent) and take India's share of global exports to above 3 per cent.
Indian and Chinese companies have inked agreements envisaging an investment of USD 2.5 billion during the visit of a Chinese delegation to the country.
"The visit of the Chinese delegation was very successful and agreements (MOUs) estimated at USD 2.5 billion were concluded between Chinese and Indian companies," said Xia Baolong, Chairman of the Standing Committee of Zhejiang Provincial People's Congress.
India today asked Chinese companies to invest here and set up manufacturing units to help bridge the widening trade gap between the countries, which stood at $36 billion in 2013-14.
Expressing concerns over ballooning trade deficit with China, Secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Amitabh Kant, said that huge scope is available in India for Chinese firms to relocate their manufacturing units.
"It is important that Chinese companies come to invest in India because the trade imbalance is unsustainable in the long run. It will be difficult to continue this business unless and until Chinese companies relocate and manufacture in India and from India penetrate the global market," Kant said.
He was addressing Ficci's India - China (Zhejiang) Business Cooperation Conference. Jack Ma, founder of the world's biggest e-commerce firm Alibaba was also present at the function.
Anticipating data out on Friday will show weakening economic growth, the finance ministry will argue for an interest rate cut, but bankers and company executives say the key to recovery lies in how fast Prime Minister Narendra Modi acts on reforms.
"Interest rates are also important, but more important is enabling policy directives from the government to resolve the issues affecting our sector," said K. Rajagopal, chief executive officer of power producer Lanco Power.
The Lanco Infratech (LAIN.NS) unit's biggest problem is a shortage of coal supplied by an inefficient state-run monopoly, Coal India Ltd.
Indian companies are keenly waiting for reforms on rules related to land acquisition, labour, coal and power sector, and foreign direct investment in insurance sector.
It's achche din for the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) sector. Now, a free online financing platform, SMEcorner.com, has been launched to cater to the needs of diverse small and medium enterprises.
The site, designed to act as a bridge between the lender and entrepreneurs, has a simple interface which will iron out the glitches and make loan procurement more accessible in just four simple steps.
"In India there is a huge gap in debt financing in the SME sector. If we look at the data collected by the International Finance Corporation, around 41 per cent of the SMEs in India do not have access to bank loans or other related products offered by financial institutions. IFC reports a financing demand gap of Rs 2.93 trillion in the SME sector. This is the gap that we aim to target and bridge through our new venture," says Samir Bhatia, Founder & CEO, SMEcorner.com.
SMEcorner, an online platform that enables small and medium enterprises to access loans easily from banks and NBFCs has joined hands with mega online store, Flipkart to help organise finance for small sellers.
“Today, there is a huge gap in the SME sector in terms of debt financing. According to data collected by the International Finance Corporation, 41 per cent of the SMEs in India are financially unserved by any formal institution, leaving a SME financing demand gap of Rs 2.93 trillion. The team at SMEcorner believes that this gap can be reduced by engaging with SME’s and offering assistance through a streamlined online platform,” an official release said.
SMEcorner hopes to bridge the gap, media reports quoted Founder and CEO, SMEcorner.com, Samir Bhatia as saying.
As far as Flipkart’s role is concerned, sellers on the online market place requiring finance will be directed to SMEcorner’s website.
Small industries in Tamil Nadu should come forward to supply more goods to public sector undertakings such as railways, defence and power units, said Executive Director, Neyveli Lignite Corporation, N Ilamparuthi.
Inaugurating a two-day National Vendor Development Programme and MSME Expo 2014 here yesterday, the senior official of NLC said small industries in the state are still hesitant when it comes to supplying goods to government undertakings, fearing lower rates and higher penalties, media reports said.
Citing that Tamil Nadu firms have not been supplying as much goods when compared to companies from northern states, such as Gujarat, to government companies, Ilamparuthi said vendors should change this attitude and should start contributing to public sectors.
In an endeavour to facilitate ease of doing business, the government has taken various initiatives which are currently under implementation for special economic zones.
In terms of service delivery, activities related to developers and units in SEZs were identified and timelines for completion of the said activities were prescribed and implemented. Monitored regularly by Development Commissioners, this was launched on August-14, 2014 in all zones, an official release said.
Further, digitization and online processing of various activities relating to SEZ developers and units has been introduced in all Zones from November-1, 2014. The option of either filing applications online or in hardcopy is available to developers/units until December-31, 201
India’s steel production grew at the fastest pace among the top producing nations in October at 8.5 per cent even as world’s average growth remained stagnant.
India produced 7.080 million tonnes steel last month compared to 6.523 mt in the year ago period, data prepared by World Steel Association said today.
On the other hand, production of steel declined during the month in major producing nations such as China, Japan and the US, barring Russia which posted a 1.6 per cent growth in October output compared to the same month last year.
China, the world’s largest producer of steel, reported a 0.3 per cent fall in production. Output fell by 1.7 per cent in Japan and by 0.7 per cent in the US.
China, Japan, the US and India are world’s top four steel producing nations. The order has remained unchanged for quite some years now.
Gilt lenders are keenly studying Thursday's RBI guidelines on small finance banks and several of them could soon apply for licenses for small banks.
“On the liabilities side, companies like us have a huge branch network and are well positioned to garner CASA (current account saving account deposits). On the assets side, with the RBI stating that 50% of the books of such entities should have loans up to Rs 25 lakh, it's well suited for players like us as our average ticket size is Rs 31,000,“ chief financial officer Kapil Krishan of Manappuram Finance said. His company has 3,290 branch es. “Our initial response to the guidelines is positive and we are doing a full evaluation before taking the final decision,“ he said.
To help Indian SMBs address the IT infrastructure concerns, Schneider Electric IT Business recently launched ‘InfraStruxure’ (ISX) for Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) in India.
SMBs contribute for a greater share of IT services market in India. The rapid growth of SMBs related to IT and e-commerce is offering good opportunity for providers like Schneider Electrci.
According to the latest report from NASSCOM, India SMB market is estimated to witness a year-on-year growth of 15 percent CAGR. This is expected to propel the IT spending in the sector to over $ 18.5 billion.
India has signed an agreement with the Asian Development bank (ADB) for a loan of USD 100 million to support Kerala’s additional skill acquisition program (ASAP). As many as 2,35,000 needy students in the state will benefit from the program during 2014-2018.
The move is an initiative of the Government of Kerala to increase the employability of higher secondary and undergraduate students by way of providing opportunities to improve their English fluency and IT skills, and to learn market relevant, in-demand vocational skills outside regular school hours, an official release from the Ministry of Finance said.
The agreement was signed by Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Tarun Bajaj on behalf of the Government of India and Country Director ADB, M Teresa Kho on behalf of the Asian Development Bank, and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), ASAP, Higher Education Department on behalf of the Government of Kerala, M T Reju.
Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao on Thursday unveiled the much-talked-about new industrial policy for Telangana.
Introducing the Telangana State Industrial Project Approval And Self Certification System (TS-iPASS) Policy Framework for the State of Telangana (2014) in the State Legislative Assembly, the Chief Minister described the new policy as a first-of-kind in the country.
The policy promises a right to timely clearances (claimed to be a first in the world) and allows self-certification (for the first time in India), and, for the first time, the time limits for clearances have been specified in the Act itself rather than in the rules.
Again in a first in the country, the policy assures a 15-day clearance for mega projects, with a penal provision if departments delay clearances.
Registered micro and small enterprises in the state of Haryana that have pending dues from their buyers of over 45 days can now receive assistance from the Haryana Micro and Small Enterprises Facilitation Council.
“The Chapter V of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006 (MSMED Act, 2006) facilitates the micro and small enterprises for recovery of their delayed payment from the buyer located anywhere in India.
“Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, any supplier to a payment dispute may, with regard to any amount due, make a reference to the Haryana Micro and Small Enterprises Facilitation Council for recovery of their delayed payment,” a press notification said today.
Gujarat government would soon come up with two more policies to boost business and industry in the state. A new SME policy to encourage " Make in India" concept is under consideration, while on other hand for the first time government is coming up with a start-up policy to provide impetus to entrepreneurship in the state. The startup policy may come up within next one month.
Last week, state government came up with its maiden electronic industry policy for 2014-19. It was in the first in a series of business policy announcement lined up by the state government in the run-up to the 7th Vibrant Gujarat Global Investor Summit scheduled for January 2015.
To address the advertising and marketing needs as well as brand building challenges of small and medium enterprises, a workshop on how advertising can help grow your business is being organised here for SMEs.
The programme to be held tomorrow has been organised by the Vadodara Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), according to official data.
It will take place on the inaugural day of the 9th edition of ‘Vibrant VCCI Exhibition - 2014, a flagship exhibition of industrial and allied products and services.
The Centre has extended the visa-on-arrival facility at the Goa airport for tourists from 43 countries, which is expected to bring in 15 per cent growth in tourism during the ongoing season.
Goa's Dabolim airport is among one of the nine places that has extended this facility, which will further improve the prospects of its tourism growth, state tourism minister Dilip Parulekar told reporters here yesterday.
The cities where VoA (visa-on-arrival) will be issued include Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram.
The trade facilitation agreement will make it easier for small and medium-sized enterprises to do business across borders, a subsidiary organisation of the WTO has said while calling for its speedy implementation.
"The TFA will make it easier for small and medium-sized enterprises to do business across borders. Since SMEs account for the bulk of employment worldwide, lowering the cost of joining value chains should mean more and better jobs," International Trade Center (ITC) executive director Arancha Gonzalez said on WTO's Trade Facilitation Agreement.
The small and medium enterprises (SME) sector can play a key role in further strengthening trade ties between Australia and India, Australian treasurer said today and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to look into promoting this untouched area.
Joe Hockey's remarks came during the last leg of the roundtable CEO meet held yesterday.
Hockey was a part of discussion where Modi met top honchos of corporate Australia along with his high level CEOs delegation including Adani Group's Gautam Adani, Mahindra & Mahindra's Anand Mahindra and InfosysBSE -0.18 % CMD Vishal Sikka.
Trade generated along the Line of Control (Indo-Pak) through Trade Facilitation Centre Chakan-Da-Bagh and Salamabad stood at Rs 813 crore in value terms during 2013-14, Parliament was informed today.
The trade generated along Nathu La Pass (India-China) during the same year was to the tune of Rs 8.91 crore.
"No incidence of adulteration which adversely affected trade has come to the notice of government," Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.
India is well-positioned to attract investments from the likes of Japan, US, Europe and even China given its geographical location, size of domestic market and relatively lower cost structure, a Singapore minister said today.
"The development priorities and economic agenda of the new Indian Government (also) present interesting possibilities for partnership with Singapore," said S Iswaran, the Second Minister for Trade and Industry at a symposium on business prospects in India.
While it is still early days, the new government has announced several key initiatives, such as 'Make in India', Swachh Bharat and smart cities, he said.
With moderation in Wholesale price index and fall in prices of oil and commodities, is there a case now for reducing interest rates by the RBI?
According to the FISME Factor, 73 percent of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) think that moderation in Wholesale price index and fall in prices of oil and commodities, is a case now for reducing interest rates by the RBI while 27 % disagree.
The word 'team', in business parlance, refers to two or more people getting together and pooling their complemen skills and ability to undertake a business, a job or a project. But a team will often have people from diverse backgrounds, cultures and skill sets, which may come in the way of harmony amongst them and consequently affect the work at hand.
Similarly, in a unique situation such as a merger or in an organizational shuffle, there is the possibility of two teams with different cultures, processes and skill sets having to come together and integrate into one single team. Instances of team integration can be seen within and outside organizations. For example, payroll and finance can be combined into one department during tough times. Or design teams at two publishing houses can be merged when one takes over the other.
He likes it. He likes it not. She likes it. She likes it not.
Are we talking here about a lovelorn soul, second guessing whether the object of their affection loves them or not? No, we are not.
We are discussing about whether someone likes investing in a particular asset class – say, equities! There are some who like it and some who don’t.
Again, attraction to a particular asset class is also mostly a factor of past experience. If one has had very good experience in investing in properties, one would be positively inclined towards that asset class… some may swear by it and would not even want to consider any other asset class for investments. There are others who have been singed once by an asset class and after that had decided never to touch it again – even if they know that they had speculated and that is why they lost badly!
Meet Vikram, a 42-year-old family man who is doing well. Two decades ago, when Vikram started earning, he opened a bank account and got a cheque book. Within a year, he had started a fixed deposit, bought a life insurance policy through a distant relative and opened a PPF account with his bank. For most of these, he went through physical documentation and made choices based on the limited information available. Enter 2014.
Today, Vikram’s relationship with his money has changed substantially. His banking is mostly online, with only a few visits to the ATM. He has converted all his insurance policies to electronic form. He directly buys his mutual funds and keeps track of the portfolio movement online. He frequently uses his credit card for his purchases. The rules of the game have changed.
About 68 per cent of small and medium enterprises have no independent directors and if not mandatory, 80 per cent of them do not want to appoint independent directors, according to a recent survey.
The survey on corporate governance for selected CFOs spread across India was conducted by Brickwork Finance Academy (BFA), according to a press release.
The survey samples covered companies of varying sizes. About 48 per cent companies had revenue of Rs 10 cr. to Rs 100 cr. About 26 per cent firms reported revenues between Rs 100 cr. to Rs 1000 cr. About 7 per cent had revenues of more than Rs 1000 cr.
Selling an organic lifestyle online pays dividends
It's still a niche market but serial entrepreneur Manuj Terapanthi believes he can change that perception. Which is why he launched Organic Shop, an e-commerce portal that sells organic products.
The Jaipur-based entrepreneur, who has leveraged the shift people are making towards healthier lifestyle choices, believes there is a huge opportunity for players like him in India. Thus, after starting with textiles as its most innovative offering in 2011, Organic Shop has since expanded to an astonishing 6,000 products and 50 brands.
Founded with just Rs 1 lakh, start-up blazes success trail
"Entrepreneurs are those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity and are able to turn both to their advantage" – Niccolo Machiavelli
Rajesh Kishanpuriya, Kolkata-based entrepreneur and founder of Ideazfirst, a marketing services company, is a living example of how obstacles can be turned into opportunities. With an annual turnover of close to Rs 70 lakh, Ideazfirst is the only end-to-end marketing solutions company in Kolkata that caters to small and medium enterprises.
" I have found no greater satisfaction than achieving success through honest dealing and strict adherence to the view that, for you to gain, those you deal with should gain as well. "
Buy our one-of-a-kind guide to all industrial testing laboratories in India. Find the one most convenient for getting your products tested and certified. An invaluable compendium for all industrial units and exporters.
PP: 894, Hard Cover.
Price: Rs 900.
50% discount for members.
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
You are receiving this Newsletter because you are included in our mailing list of recipients who are involved or interested in FISME or Indian MSMEs. You are welcome to partly or fully reproduce and disseminate the contents of this publication provided that you acknowledge the source.
This Newsletter is edited by the FISME Secretariat. We welcome contributions as well as comments and suggestions. Please write to newsletter@fisme.org.in
"
The latest GDP growth figures reiterates what we at FISME have been raising on the FISME Factor that manufacturing continues to be under severe distress. The Factory output grew barely 0.1 % in the previous quarter sliding from 3.5% from previous one. While it is universally expected that RBI would reduce interest rates this time around, much more is needed to be done at the level of Government to kick-start the engine of growth. As the Union Budget is still a few months away, policy makers should look at MSMEs, who have suffered from the slow-down and are finding difficult to stay afloat, and announce support measures including ensuring timely payment due to them and liberal restructuring of loans.
FISME organised ‘Profit Mantras for Business”- yet another programme in a nationwide series of workshops for bringing in practical wisdom to entrepreneurs on 21st November 2014 at Sheraton Park Hotel & Towers in Chennai. This was organised in association with The Madras Chamber of Commerce & Industry (MCCI).
Mr. S.G. Prabhakharan, President, The Madras Chamber of Commerce & Industry welcomed the delegates which was followed by the opening remarks by Mr. Mukesh Kalra, Joint Secretary, International Trade, FISME.
About a year ago, we at SocialCops set out to raise our first seed round. We were three months into working on SocialCops full time, had got our first revenue deals; had some clarity on the direction we’d like the company to take and wanted to convert our pilot to a business.
We were novices – 21 year olds from a university in Singapore — trying to figure out a way to use data to solve real life problems in India. Honestly, while I was working in Goldman Sachs on trading derivatives, I had no idea how to raise capital for a startup! Yes, you heard right – consulting & investment banking is not going to help you learn how to startup. The only thing that will teach you how to startup is working at a startup or building a startup!
In May 2014, we raised a round of funding from 500 Startups, Rajan Anandan (MD, Google India) and Manoj Menon (MD, Frost & Sullivan APAC). During the process, my Co-founder, Varun and I had the fortune of being helped along by some wonderful people who doubled up as advisors. We also owe a lot of what we know to Paul Graham, Techcrunch and Startup School videos.
(South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) countries on Thursday managed to salvage their summit by agreeing to a last-minute deal to trade electricity among them after Pakistan torpedoed proposals backed by India and other nations of the bloc for greater regional connectivity.
Before the Saarc Summit concluded here, foreign ministers of all the eight countries signed the framework agreement on cooperation in the power sector which would ensure electricity trading through grid connectivity but the two pacts on motor vehicle and railways could not be inked, following resistance by Pakistan.
Pakistan had opposed the energy pact, citing non-completion of internal process but finally agreed to sign it after heads of states and governments took up the matter with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at a retreat session in Dhulikhel.
Government has fixed an export target of $340 billion for the current fiscal, Commerce and Industry Minister NirmalaSitharaman said today.
Exports had registered a growth of 4.7 per cent at $314.4 billion in the previous fiscal.
Japan and the US contributed 1.84 per cent and 13.75 per cent respectively to total exports during April-September period of the current year, Sitharaman said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.
Growth rate of exports entered the negative zone after a gap of six months, declining 5.04 per cent in October due to a dip in shipments from engineering, pharma and gems and jewellery.
In a separate reply, she said that the long-term vision of the government is to increase India's exports of merchandise and services from present level of $464.1 billion to about $900 billion by 2018-19 (CAGR of about 14 per cent) and take India's share of global exports to above 3 per cent.
Indian and Chinese companies have inked agreements envisaging an investment of USD 2.5 billion during the visit of a Chinese delegation to the country.
"The visit of the Chinese delegation was very successful and agreements (MOUs) estimated at USD 2.5 billion were concluded between Chinese and Indian companies," said Xia Baolong, Chairman of the Standing Committee of Zhejiang Provincial People's Congress.
India today asked Chinese companies to invest here and set up manufacturing units to help bridge the widening trade gap between the countries, which stood at $36 billion in 2013-14.
Expressing concerns over ballooning trade deficit with China, Secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Amitabh Kant, said that huge scope is available in India for Chinese firms to relocate their manufacturing units.
"It is important that Chinese companies come to invest in India because the trade imbalance is unsustainable in the long run. It will be difficult to continue this business unless and until Chinese companies relocate and manufacture in India and from India penetrate the global market," Kant said.
He was addressing Ficci's India - China (Zhejiang) Business Cooperation Conference. Jack Ma, founder of the world's biggest e-commerce firm Alibaba was also present at the function.
It's achche din for the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) sector. Now, a free online financing platform, SMEcorner.com, has been launched to cater to the needs of diverse small and medium enterprises.
The site, designed to act as a bridge between the lender and entrepreneurs, has a simple interface which will iron out the glitches and make loan procurement more accessible in just four simple steps.
"In India there is a huge gap in debt financing in the SME sector. If we look at the data collected by the International Finance Corporation, around 41 per cent of the SMEs in India do not have access to bank loans or other related products offered by financial institutions. IFC reports a financing demand gap of Rs 2.93 trillion in the SME sector. This is the gap that we aim to target and bridge through our new venture," says Samir Bhatia, Founder & CEO, SMEcorner.com.
SMEcorner, an online platform that enables small and medium enterprises to access loans easily from banks and NBFCs has joined hands with mega online store, Flipkart to help organise finance for small sellers.
“Today, there is a huge gap in the SME sector in terms of debt financing. According to data collected by the International Finance Corporation, 41 per cent of the SMEs in India are financially unserved by any formal institution, leaving a SME financing demand gap of Rs 2.93 trillion. The team at SMEcorner believes that this gap can be reduced by engaging with SME’s and offering assistance through a streamlined online platform,” an official release said.
SMEcorner hopes to bridge the gap, media reports quoted Founder and CEO, SMEcorner.com, Samir Bhatia as saying.
As far as Flipkart’s role is concerned, sellers on the online market place requiring finance will be directed to SMEcorner’s website.
Small industries in Tamil Nadu should come forward to supply more goods to public sector undertakings such as railways, defence and power units, said Executive Director, Neyveli Lignite Corporation, N Ilamparuthi.
Inaugurating a two-day National Vendor Development Programme and MSME Expo 2014 here yesterday, the senior official of NLC said small industries in the state are still hesitant when it comes to supplying goods to government undertakings, fearing lower rates and higher penalties, media reports said.
Citing that Tamil Nadu firms have not been supplying as much goods when compared to companies from northern states, such as Gujarat, to government companies, Ilamparuthi said vendors should change this attitude and should start contributing to public sectors.
In an endeavour to facilitate ease of doing business, the government has taken various initiatives which are currently under implementation for special economic zones.
In terms of service delivery, activities related to developers and units in SEZs were identified and timelines for completion of the said activities were prescribed and implemented. Monitored regularly by Development Commissioners, this was launched on August-14, 2014 in all zones, an official release said.
Further, digitization and online processing of various activities relating to SEZ developers and units has been introduced in all Zones from November-1, 2014. The option of either filing applications online or in hardcopy is available to developers/units until December-31, 201
India’s steel production grew at the fastest pace among the top producing nations in October at 8.5 per cent even as world’s average growth remained stagnant.
India produced 7.080 million tonnes steel last month compared to 6.523 mt in the year ago period, data prepared by World Steel Association said today.
On the other hand, production of steel declined during the month in major producing nations such as China, Japan and the US, barring Russia which posted a 1.6 per cent growth in October output compared to the same month last year.
China, the world’s largest producer of steel, reported a 0.3 per cent fall in production. Output fell by 1.7 per cent in Japan and by 0.7 per cent in the US.
China, Japan, the US and India are world’s top four steel producing nations. The order has remained unchanged for quite some years now.
India has signed an agreement with the Asian Development bank (ADB) for a loan of USD 100 million to support Kerala’s additional skill acquisition program (ASAP). As many as 2,35,000 needy students in the state will benefit from the program during 2014-2018.
The move is an initiative of the Government of Kerala to increase the employability of higher secondary and undergraduate students by way of providing opportunities to improve their English fluency and IT skills, and to learn market relevant, in-demand vocational skills outside regular school hours, an official release from the Ministry of Finance said.
The agreement was signed by Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Tarun Bajaj on behalf of the Government of India and Country Director ADB, M Teresa Kho on behalf of the Asian Development Bank, and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), ASAP, Higher Education Department on behalf of the Government of Kerala, M T Reju.
Registered micro and small enterprises in the state of Haryana that have pending dues from their buyers of over 45 days can now receive assistance from the Haryana Micro and Small Enterprises Facilitation Council.
“The Chapter V of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006 (MSMED Act, 2006) facilitates the micro and small enterprises for recovery of their delayed payment from the buyer located anywhere in India.
“Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, any supplier to a payment dispute may, with regard to any amount due, make a reference to the Haryana Micro and Small Enterprises Facilitation Council for recovery of their delayed payment,” a press notification said today.
Gujarat government would soon come up with two more policies to boost business and industry in the state. A new SME policy to encourage " Make in India" concept is under consideration, while on other hand for the first time government is coming up with a start-up policy to provide impetus to entrepreneurship in the state. The startup policy may come up within next one month.
Last week, state government came up with its maiden electronic industry policy for 2014-19. It was in the first in a series of business policy announcement lined up by the state government in the run-up to the 7th Vibrant Gujarat Global Investor Summit scheduled for January 2015.
To address the advertising and marketing needs as well as brand building challenges of small and medium enterprises, a workshop on how advertising can help grow your business is being organised here for SMEs.
The programme to be held tomorrow has been organised by the Vadodara Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), according to official data.
It will take place on the inaugural day of the 9th edition of ‘Vibrant VCCI Exhibition - 2014, a flagship exhibition of industrial and allied products and services.
The Centre has extended the visa-on-arrival facility at the Goa airport for tourists from 43 countries, which is expected to bring in 15 per cent growth in tourism during the ongoing season.
Goa's Dabolim airport is among one of the nine places that has extended this facility, which will further improve the prospects of its tourism growth, state tourism minister Dilip Parulekar told reporters here yesterday.
The cities where VoA (visa-on-arrival) will be issued include Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram.
The trade facilitation agreement will make it easier for small and medium-sized enterprises to do business across borders, a subsidiary organisation of the WTO has said while calling for its speedy implementation.
"The TFA will make it easier for small and medium-sized enterprises to do business across borders. Since SMEs account for the bulk of employment worldwide, lowering the cost of joining value chains should mean more and better jobs," International Trade Center (ITC) executive director Arancha Gonzalez said on WTO's Trade Facilitation Agreement.
The small and medium enterprises (SME) sector can play a key role in further strengthening trade ties between Australia and India, Australian treasurer said today and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to look into promoting this untouched area.
Joe Hockey's remarks came during the last leg of the roundtable CEO meet held yesterday.
Hockey was a part of discussion where Modi met top honchos of corporate Australia along with his high level CEOs delegation including Adani Group's Gautam Adani, Mahindra & Mahindra's Anand Mahindra and InfosysBSE -0.18 % CMD Vishal Sikka.
Trade generated along the Line of Control (Indo-Pak) through Trade Facilitation Centre Chakan-Da-Bagh and Salamabad stood at Rs 813 crore in value terms during 2013-14, Parliament was informed today.
The trade generated along Nathu La Pass (India-China) during the same year was to the tune of Rs 8.91 crore.
"No incidence of adulteration which adversely affected trade has come to the notice of government," Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.
India is well-positioned to attract investments from the likes of Japan, US, Europe and even China given its geographical location, size of domestic market and relatively lower cost structure, a Singapore minister said today.
"The development priorities and economic agenda of the new Indian Government (also) present interesting possibilities for partnership with Singapore," said S Iswaran, the Second Minister for Trade and Industry at a symposium on business prospects in India.
While it is still early days, the new government has announced several key initiatives, such as 'Make in India', Swachh Bharat and smart cities, he said.
According to the FISME Factor, 73 percent of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) think that moderation in Wholesale price index and fall in prices of oil and commodities, is a case now for reducing interest rates by the RBI while 27 % disagree.
The word 'team', in business parlance, refers to two or more people getting together and pooling their complemen skills and ability to undertake a business, a job or a project. But a team will often have people from diverse backgrounds, cultures and skill sets, which may come in the way of harmony amongst them and consequently affect the work at hand.
Similarly, in a unique situation such as a merger or in an organizational shuffle, there is the possibility of two teams with different cultures, processes and skill sets having to come together and integrate into one single team. Instances of team integration can be seen within and outside organizations. For example, payroll and finance can be combined into one department during tough times. Or design teams at two publishing houses can be merged when one takes over the other.
He likes it. He likes it not. She likes it. She likes it not.
Are we talking here about a lovelorn soul, second guessing whether the object of their affection loves them or not? No, we are not.
We are discussing about whether someone likes investing in a particular asset class – say, equities! There are some who like it and some who don’t.
Again, attraction to a particular asset class is also mostly a factor of past experience. If one has had very good experience in investing in properties, one would be positively inclined towards that asset class… some may swear by it and would not even want to consider any other asset class for investments. There are others who have been singed once by an asset class and after that had decided never to touch it again – even if they know that they had speculated and that is why they lost badly!
Meet Vikram, a 42-year-old family man who is doing well. Two decades ago, when Vikram started earning, he opened a bank account and got a cheque book. Within a year, he had started a fixed deposit, bought a life insurance policy through a distant relative and opened a PPF account with his bank. For most of these, he went through physical documentation and made choices based on the limited information available. Enter 2014.
Today, Vikram’s relationship with his money has changed substantially. His banking is mostly online, with only a few visits to the ATM. He has converted all his insurance policies to electronic form. He directly buys his mutual funds and keeps track of the portfolio movement online. He frequently uses his credit card for his purchases. The rules of the game have changed.
About 68 per cent of small and medium enterprises have no independent directors and if not mandatory, 80 per cent of them do not want to appoint independent directors, according to a recent survey.
The survey on corporate governance for selected CFOs spread across India was conducted by Brickwork Finance Academy (BFA), according to a press release.
The survey samples covered companies of varying sizes. About 48 per cent companies had revenue of Rs 10 cr. to Rs 100 cr. About 26 per cent firms reported revenues between Rs 100 cr. to Rs 1000 cr. About 7 per cent had revenues of more than Rs 1000 cr.
It's still a niche market but serial entrepreneur Manuj Terapanthi believes he can change that perception. Which is why he launched Organic Shop, an e-commerce portal that sells organic products.
The Jaipur-based entrepreneur, who has leveraged the shift people are making towards healthier lifestyle choices, believes there is a huge opportunity for players like him in India. Thus, after starting with textiles as its most innovative offering in 2011, Organic Shop has since expanded to an astonishing 6,000 products and 50 brands.
"Entrepreneurs are those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity and are able to turn both to their advantage" – Niccolo Machiavelli
Rajesh Kishanpuriya, Kolkata-based entrepreneur and founder of Ideazfirst, a marketing services company, is a living example of how obstacles can be turned into opportunities. With an annual turnover of close to Rs 70 lakh, Ideazfirst is the only end-to-end marketing solutions company in Kolkata that caters to small and medium enterprises.
" I have found no greater satisfaction than achieving success through honest dealing and strict adherence to the view that, for you to gain, those you deal with should gain as well. " 
Buy our one-of-a-kind guide to all industrial testing laboratories in India. Find the one most convenient for getting your products tested and certified. An invaluable compendium for all industrial units and exporters.
