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President's Message
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For the seventh consecutive quarter, India's economic growth has remained stuck below 5%. It is now obvious that the economic slump in the country is far from over. MSMEs’ woes are piling up especially payments of their bills are getting delayed inordinately. Unfortunately, in stead of coming to their rescue and help them tide over the crisis, banks themselves are tightening the screws on MSMEs owing to their rising bad debts in other sectors such as real estate. RBI’s Standing Advisory Committee is to review the flow of credit to the MSME sector later this month wherein FISME will raise these issues forcefully. I seek cooperation of fellow members in identifying credit related problems faced by MSMEs and request share them online.
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An official delegation from Ministry of the People and Social Development, Government of Trinidad and Tobago made a visit to FISME secretariat on 28th Feb 2014. This was a follow-up of the meeting that took place in June 2013. The delegation was welcomed by C.S. Goel, Treasurer of FISME and had a detailed discussion on India’s entrepreneurship development programmes and MSME support schemes in PPP mode. Led by Mr. Simeon Yearwood, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, the delegation included Vijay Gangapersad, Director, Social Welfare Division, Inshan Mohamed, National Director, Targeted Conditional Cash Transfer Programme (T.C.C.T.P.) and officials from High Commission in India.
A special session was convened for MSME associations in Southern India on how they could leverage Knowledge and News Network (KNN) for advocacy and knowledge dissemination, during the workshop on “Emerging Roles of MSME Business Membership Organizations (BMOs)” organized in Chennai under the project “Capacity Development of BMOs in India”.
Addressing the leaders of associations, Vijit Vasudevan, KNN’s Manager (Operations) informed that 165 MSME associations have joined KNN beside 110 institutions.
To help small entrepreneurs and innovators in identification of Intellectual Property (IP) assets hidden in enterprises, FISME commenced its first IP Auditor training cum certification programme from 25th Feb, 2014 in New Delhi.
The objective of the training has been to develop a pool of auditors by imparting training on various facets of IP regime, auditing principles and mechanism for protection. The trained Auditors not only would be able to spot the potential IP assets in the enterprises but also help the owners in adopting the most effective mode of IP protection. This programme has been conceived and developed by FISME’s IP Facilitation Centers with the technical support from Acrues Legal, a Delhi based reputed IPR firm.
- Kelly Clay, Seattle-based freelance writer and content marketing strategist
It might have been the costliest mistake that Facebook ever made – but it ended up turning WhatsApp cofounder Brian Action into a billionaire. In August 2009, he applied for a job with Facebook but was rejected. As he tweeted back then, “It was a great opportunity to connect with some fantastic people. Looking forward to life’s next adventure.” (Action also applied for a job with Twitter just a few months prior and was also turned down.) Instead of throwing in the towel and giving up on his dreams of working on a product that would change people’s lives, Action partnered with co-founder Jan Koum to build WhatsApp and spent the next four years developing the app. It’s an important lesson – and perhaps the most important to take away from WhatsApp’s acquisition: keep focused on your goals and dreams, even in the face of setbacks and rejection.
[4 Lessons Entrepreneurs Can Learn From WhatsApp's Acquisition]
It is an interesting time to take stock of the global economy. It used to be said that when America sneezes, the rest of the world catches cold. The events of last year suggest anything but the same. It is now the case that when America recovers, the rest of the world catches cold. This reversal is due to the fact that good news for the American economy is bad news for global liquidity.
The Federal Reserve strengthens its resolve with each piece of good news to “taper” its unconventional monetary policy. In turn, as treasury yields rise, asset managers retrench from higher-yielding assets towards safe havens.
[Adapted from Live Mint & The Wall Street Journal, Opinion Section]
A meeting of RBI Standing Advisory Committee has been convened next month to review the flow of institutional credit to the MSME sector.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has constituted the Standing Advisory Committee (SAC) with Deputy Governor, K C Chakrabarty as Chairman.
The officials of the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, banks and associations of the MSME sector are members of the SAC.
The Committee has been mandated to examine issues relating to credit availability to the MSME sector. It would also examine the constraints and the steps being taken to overcome, so that the institutional credit flow to the MSMEs is improved.
With a view to showcasing rural life, art, culture and heritage in villages, in particular the competence in art and craft, handloom and textiles, the Ministry of Tourism has started a rural tourism scheme.
“Under this scheme, Central Financial Assistance (CFA) up to Rs 50.00 Lakh for infrastructure development and up to Rs 20.00 Lakh for capacity building is provided to State Governments/Union Territory Administrations for each identified site by them,” Minister of State for Tourism, K Chiranjeevi said in Lok Sabha recently.
Development, implementation, identification and promotion of tourism projects including those related to rural areas is primarily the responsibility of the respective State Government/Union Territory (UT) Administration.
In a bid to improve the economy of the region, the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) wants to develop and promote business opportunities in the area and make known the advantages of doing so.
Considering the huge pool of natural and human resources, the North East of India has the potential of being an important investment destination and a centre for trade and business.
In this context, DoNER seeks bids from agencies to design and produce an audio visual creative about the economic opportunities and advantages in NER.
Economic opportunities include those in handloom and handicrafts and tourism. Also in the pipeline are projects in roads, power, irrigation and communication sectors.
India has said its patent laws cannot be successfully challenged by the US either in a bilateral or multilateral forum as they strictly comply with the intellectual property agreement of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Any US unilateral trade measure against India on the ground of inappropriate intellectual property protection in the country would be in violation of WTO rules and can be challenged there, an official in the Commerce and Industry Ministry told Business Line. There could also be retaliatory action by India.
As most pharmaceutical companies have recently agreed to revert to the old trade margins for drugs listed under the Drug Price Control Order (DPCO), the move can come as a major blow for small and medium-sized drug firms, which expect erosion in margins as a result. This leaves SME drug makers strapped for cash, jeopardising their chances of diversifying into non-DPCO products to protect their margins.
Kamlesh Patel, managing director of West Coast Pharmaceutical Works and vice-president of the Indian Drug Manufacturers Association (IDMA), western region, explained that a margin erosion of at least five to six per cent is unavoidable for SMEs in the pharma sector, which would now have to offer the old margins to retailers and wholesalers.
The excise duty cuts announced in the interim Budget triggered a sigh of relief in the Indian automotive industry, which has been in the grip of a demand slump over the past two years that hurt not only OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) but component suppliers as well.
However, since the duty cuts are valid only until the regular budget is presented by the new finance minister after the forthcoming general elections, manufacturers of auto components are uncertain about future demand from OEMs.
OEMs are expected to clear their inventories on a priority basis if demand surges, but parts suppliers say they will benefit only when auto companies resume operating at optimum capacity.
Export Import Bank of India (EXIM Bank) will extend a line of credit of USD 10 million for financing import of goods from India by the Republic of Nicaragua. The goods which can be exported under this line of credit would include equipment for building two electric sub stations in Nicaragua.
“Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) has entered into an Agreement dated June 14, 2013 with the Government of the Republic of Nicaragua for making available to the latter, a Line of Credit (LOC) of USD 10 million (USD Ten million) for financing eligible goods, machinery, equipment and services including consultancy services from India for the purpose of financing purchase of equipment from India for building two electric sub-stations in Nicaragua,” said an RBI notification yesterday.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed the micro and small enterprises (MSEs) which are no more registered with their small scale industry status to sell stake to foreign investor to help them finance their expansion programme in the allowed sectors.
“…an Indian company which is a small scale industrial unit and which is not engaged in any activity or in manufacture of items included in Annex A, may issue shares or convertible debentures to a person resident outside India, to the extent of 24 per cent of its paid -up capital provided that such company may issue shares in excess of 24 per cent of its capital, with certain conditions.
In an effort to improve the energy efficiency of manufacturing processes, the Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises and GIZ German Development Cooperation are jointly organizing a workshop on financing energy efficient technologies for MSMEs.
Scheduled to be held here on March 3, the workshop will present energy efficiency finance as a business case for MSMEs.
In addition, it will discuss the changes on the scheme for Technology and Quality Upgradation Support to MSMEs (TEQUP) – one of the schemes under National Manufacturing Competitiveness Programme (NMCP) from the ministry of MSME which has been modified.
Pondicherry University has invented a solar-powered drier which can be boon to the food processing industry as it can be used to dry agricultural produce, poultry and sea food.
It comprises of two components: a solar air heater fitted with panels of two square metres each that can generate hot air; and a drying chamber that dehydrates moisture content from different kinds of food, Assistant Professor, Centre for Green Energy Technology, Pondicherry University, A Sreekumar told KNN.
The project according to Sreekumar was awarded by UGC and developed over a year. Several students were involved in various aspects of the invention.
The government has allocated an outlay of Rs 5,990 crore to promote food processing industries during the 12th Plan period.
“A sum of Rs. 5,990 crore has been allocated under various schemes of the Food Processing Industries ministry for promotion and development of the food processing sector. The sector has high potential for employment generation and optimal utilisation of perishable farm produce such as vegetables and fruits,” said a release from the Ministry of Food Processing Industries.
While a sum of Rs 2,800 crore is for infrastructure development activities, including setting up of mega food parks, integrated cold chains and abattoirs, the National Mission on Food Processing which has been launched in this plan itself will get Rs 1,850 crore.
The Spices Board is planning to establish a Spices Exporters Entrepreneurship Facility at Bengaluru with an outlay of Rs 921 lakhs.
The facility is likely to assist entrepreneurs in setting up units, provide information on potential markets, documentation and procedures, thereby equipping them to export spices.
The Spices Board of India is one of the five Commodity Boards functioning under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. It is an autonomous body responsible for the export promotion of the scheduled spices and production development of some of them such as Cardamom and Vanilla.
The Tamil Nadu government will set up an 'Auto City' in over 1,000 hectare industrial park where global auto giants and the local component makers will be able to set up their manufacturing facilities. The initiative will give a boost not only to the large corporations but also to their vendors in the SME segment.
A special purpose vehicle, Automotive Industrial Development Centre offering investment facilitation to investors would implement the ambitious project, according to the state government.
The Auto City would be equipped with a state of the art logistics hub to provide multi modal transport and common infrastructure like effluent treatment and waste management facilities.
With a draft industrial policy for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) being fine-tuned and the Centre extending a capital subsidy scheme, the Uttarakhand government is getting ready to set up a new industrial estate exclusively for the MSME sector at Lal Kuan in the Kumaon region.
An announcement to this effect had already been made by the former chief minister, Vijay Bahuguna, after the Centre extended the capital investment subsidy scheme under the special industrial package of 2003 for Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand with retrospective effect from January 7, 2013 until March 31, 2017.
West Bengal which produces 24 per cent of the country’s total pineapple yield is keen to put in place measures to increase efficiency of the Pineapple Development Centre at Bidhan Nagar in Darjeeling.
Bidhannagar is the hub of pineapple growing and trading activities. North Bengal (NB) grows over 75 per cent of total Pineapple produced in the state, with production volume of around 7.5 lakh tons.
Each year, the state hosts large scale pineapple festivals.
However, the high potential of the state in pineapple trade is far from being fully exploited, despite the state government’s ‘project pineapple’ under the national horticulture mission to increase production by 300 per cent.
Ranked the most liveable city by Mercer for fifth year in a row, Vienna looks to double Indian tourists by 2020.
Vienna Tourist Board said the country received 5.8 million tourists in 2013, an increase of over 4.1 per cent compared with 2012.
Norbert Kettner, Director of the Vienna Tourist Board, said, “The profile of the tourist arrivals in Vienna mirrors the global economic situation, as we have seen a strong increase from emerging – particularly Asian – regions.”
Indian tourist arrivals to Vienna doubled from 11,077 in 2006 to 22,280 in 2013. The goal is to double this in the next 6-7 years, said the tourism board.
Japan's ruling party wants to loosen self-imposed rules banning arms exports in a bid to boost the country's defence influence, a report said today, a move that would mark a major shift from its pacifism and could irritate China.
A draft document that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wants approved by his cabinet next month would allow Tokyo to supply weaponry to nations that sit along important sea lanes to help them fight piracy, Kyodo News said, an important step for a country like Japan which depends so heavily on mineral imports.
A week-long recent visit by Indian MSME delegation to Lahore and Karachi received overwhelming attention in the Pakistani media which underscored the need for removing irritants to normalise the bilateral trade.
A 15 member delegation of the Federation of Indian Micro & Small and Medium Enterprises (FISME) visited Karachi and Lahore between February 9th and 15th.
The FISME delegation led by Mukesh Kalra had meetings with different Pakistani trade and industry bodies including the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industries (LCCI).
India and US will be collaborating in research to identify new approaches to measurement of blood pressure which are both affordable and suitable for low resource settings in both the countries.
“The purpose of this Indo-US Grand Challenge Initiative between Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), Department of Science and Technology, Government of India and the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), NIH, USA is to encourage research collaborations within and between both countries on the development of new blood pressure measurement technologies for either passive or active monitoring of hypertension,” said an IUSSTF (Indo-US Science and Technology Forum) notice.
The present legislative structures of India of State assemblies and Parliament are under serious challenge
According to the FISME Factor, 71 per cent of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), think that the present legislative structures of India of State assemblies and Parliament are under serious challenge.
When you're building a start-up, brick by brick, all your energy is focused on two broad areas. The first, of course, is client acquisition and the second, and the key to the success of your business, is a good start-up team.
Smart hiring can make all the difference to your venture, especially when you start out with only a handful of people. All entrepreneurs would like to have top performers in their team but how do you make sure you're hiring the right people?
Small companies are often caught unaware and inadvertently find themselves entangled in fraudulent financial and legal transactions. This can take many forms but what we are discussing here is the issue of bank guarantees.
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs), especially in the export and import segment, use bank guarantees a great deal. The guarantee is very handy because it is an assurance given by a bank on behalf of one party to another party that has entered into a contract with the other. A bank guarantee can be executed by a bank on behalf of the seller for the buyer or vice-versa.
“SMEs must understand the importance of branding. Now, branding is not only restricted to advertising for television, print media or radio. SMEs must promote its products through social media which is very effective", said veteran advertisement guru Pralhad Kakkar in Pune.
He was speaking at the 22nd forum 'Secrets of Success on SMEs, organised by India SME Forum (ISF). It was centered on the objectives of knowledge-sharing and the best practices to enhance competitiveness of the small and medium entrepreneurs in association with Business Standard.
Despite rising pulses imports, liberal policy can help contain prices and ensure regular supply
A prolonged stagnation of pulses production in India until 2005 has widened the gap between their supply and demand. The prices of pulses have soared beyond the reach of poor consumers. To cool inflationary pressure on pulses, the government was forced to look at imports.
A recent study by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) shows that pulses imports rose from 0.1 million tonnes in 2000 to a staggering 4.1 million tonnes in 2012. In value terms, pulses import has joined the billion-dollar club, rising from $45 million in 2000 to $1.93 billion in 2012. Our dependence on imports went up from 0.1 per cent in 2000 to 21 per cent in 2012.
First for the uninitiated, if you don't know what a Flappy Bird is; my earnest sympathies on your ignorance. For the past few days, a little video game (which happened to be a curious mix of Angry Birds and Super Mario) has been garnering a lot of news coverage from around the world. While, the game was at the top of Apple Store and Android Playstore for the past many weeks, it shot to fame recently when its creator, Don Nguyen, decided to pull it off the stores. The story was picked by the media across very many countries, leading to assessments, analysis and projections about what went wrong with the poor bird.
How Myna Batavia made Green Carpets a Rs 1.5 crore company from nearly zero investment
At a time when urban spaces are identified by square inches and home gardens are a pipe dream, would you bet on starting a company that offers gardening solutions? Bangalore-based Myna Batavia dared to do just that. Today, Green Carpets, a venture that came to life in her back garden, is recording a revenue of Rs 1.5 crore per annum.
This was not 50-year-old Batavia's first shot at starting her own company. After completing her post graduation from Mysore University in 1985, she had planned to take up a job like most people. However, three jobs in one-and-a-half years was hardly the perfect start. "All the three companies shut down after I joined," says Batavia.
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.
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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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"
For the seventh consecutive quarter, India's economic growth has remained stuck below 5%. It is now obvious that the economic slump in the country is far from over. MSMEs’ woes are piling up especially payments of their bills are getting delayed inordinately. Unfortunately, in stead of coming to their rescue and help them tide over the crisis, banks themselves are tightening the screws on MSMEs owing to their rising bad debts in other sectors such as real estate. RBI’s Standing Advisory Committee is to review the flow of credit to the MSME sector later this month wherein FISME will raise these issues forcefully. I seek cooperation of fellow members in identifying credit related problems faced by MSMEs and request share them 
An official delegation from Ministry of the People and Social Development, Government of Trinidad and Tobago made a visit to FISME secretariat on 28th Feb 2014. This was a follow-up of the meeting that took place in June 2013. The delegation was welcomed by C.S. Goel, Treasurer of FISME and had a detailed discussion on India’s entrepreneurship development programmes and MSME support schemes in PPP mode. Led by Mr. Simeon Yearwood, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, the delegation included Vijay Gangapersad, Director, Social Welfare Division, Inshan Mohamed, National Director, Targeted Conditional Cash Transfer Programme (T.C.C.T.P.) and officials from High Commission in India.
A special session was convened for MSME associations in Southern India on how they could leverage Knowledge and News Network (KNN) for advocacy and knowledge dissemination, during the workshop on “Emerging Roles of MSME Business Membership Organizations (BMOs)” organized in Chennai under the project “Capacity Development of BMOs in India”.
Addressing the leaders of associations, Vijit Vasudevan, KNN’s Manager (Operations) informed that 165 MSME associations have joined KNN beside 110 institutions.
To help small entrepreneurs and innovators in identification of Intellectual Property (IP) assets hidden in enterprises, FISME commenced its first IP Auditor training cum certification programme from 25th Feb, 2014 in New Delhi.
The objective of the training has been to develop a pool of auditors by imparting training on various facets of IP regime, auditing principles and mechanism for protection. The trained Auditors not only would be able to spot the potential IP assets in the enterprises but also help the owners in adopting the most effective mode of IP protection. This programme has been conceived and developed by FISME’s IP Facilitation Centers with the technical support from Acrues Legal, a Delhi based reputed IPR firm.
It might have been the costliest mistake that Facebook ever made – but it ended up turning WhatsApp cofounder Brian Action into a billionaire. In August 2009, he applied for a job with Facebook but was rejected. As he tweeted back then, “It was a great opportunity to connect with some fantastic people. Looking forward to life’s next adventure.” (Action also applied for a job with Twitter just a few months prior and was also turned down.) Instead of throwing in the towel and giving up on his dreams of working on a product that would change people’s lives, Action partnered with co-founder Jan Koum to build WhatsApp and spent the next four years developing the app. It’s an important lesson – and perhaps the most important to take away from WhatsApp’s acquisition: keep focused on your goals and dreams, even in the face of setbacks and rejection.
It is an interesting time to take stock of the global economy. It used to be said that when America sneezes, the rest of the world catches cold. The events of last year suggest anything but the same. It is now the case that when America recovers, the rest of the world catches cold. This reversal is due to the fact that good news for the American economy is bad news for global liquidity.
The Federal Reserve strengthens its resolve with each piece of good news to “taper” its unconventional monetary policy. In turn, as treasury yields rise, asset managers retrench from higher-yielding assets towards safe havens.
A meeting of RBI Standing Advisory Committee has been convened next month to review the flow of institutional credit to the MSME sector.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has constituted the Standing Advisory Committee (SAC) with Deputy Governor, K C Chakrabarty as Chairman.
The officials of the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, banks and associations of the MSME sector are members of the SAC.
The Committee has been mandated to examine issues relating to credit availability to the MSME sector. It would also examine the constraints and the steps being taken to overcome, so that the institutional credit flow to the MSMEs is improved.
With a view to showcasing rural life, art, culture and heritage in villages, in particular the competence in art and craft, handloom and textiles, the Ministry of Tourism has started a rural tourism scheme.
“Under this scheme, Central Financial Assistance (CFA) up to Rs 50.00 Lakh for infrastructure development and up to Rs 20.00 Lakh for capacity building is provided to State Governments/Union Territory Administrations for each identified site by them,” Minister of State for Tourism, K Chiranjeevi said in Lok Sabha recently.
Development, implementation, identification and promotion of tourism projects including those related to rural areas is primarily the responsibility of the respective State Government/Union Territory (UT) Administration.
In a bid to improve the economy of the region, the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) wants to develop and promote business opportunities in the area and make known the advantages of doing so.
Considering the huge pool of natural and human resources, the North East of India has the potential of being an important investment destination and a centre for trade and business.
In this context, DoNER seeks bids from agencies to design and produce an audio visual creative about the economic opportunities and advantages in NER.
Economic opportunities include those in handloom and handicrafts and tourism. Also in the pipeline are projects in roads, power, irrigation and communication sectors.
India has said its patent laws cannot be successfully challenged by the US either in a bilateral or multilateral forum as they strictly comply with the intellectual property agreement of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Any US unilateral trade measure against India on the ground of inappropriate intellectual property protection in the country would be in violation of WTO rules and can be challenged there, an official in the Commerce and Industry Ministry told Business Line. There could also be retaliatory action by India.
The excise duty cuts announced in the interim Budget triggered a sigh of relief in the Indian automotive industry, which has been in the grip of a demand slump over the past two years that hurt not only OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) but component suppliers as well.
However, since the duty cuts are valid only until the regular budget is presented by the new finance minister after the forthcoming general elections, manufacturers of auto components are uncertain about future demand from OEMs.
OEMs are expected to clear their inventories on a priority basis if demand surges, but parts suppliers say they will benefit only when auto companies resume operating at optimum capacity.
Export Import Bank of India (EXIM Bank) will extend a line of credit of USD 10 million for financing import of goods from India by the Republic of Nicaragua. The goods which can be exported under this line of credit would include equipment for building two electric sub stations in Nicaragua.
“Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) has entered into an Agreement dated June 14, 2013 with the Government of the Republic of Nicaragua for making available to the latter, a Line of Credit (LOC) of USD 10 million (USD Ten million) for financing eligible goods, machinery, equipment and services including consultancy services from India for the purpose of financing purchase of equipment from India for building two electric sub-stations in Nicaragua,” said an RBI notification yesterday.
In an effort to improve the energy efficiency of manufacturing processes, the Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises and GIZ German Development Cooperation are jointly organizing a workshop on financing energy efficient technologies for MSMEs.
Scheduled to be held here on March 3, the workshop will present energy efficiency finance as a business case for MSMEs.
In addition, it will discuss the changes on the scheme for Technology and Quality Upgradation Support to MSMEs (TEQUP) – one of the schemes under National Manufacturing Competitiveness Programme (NMCP) from the ministry of MSME which has been modified.
Pondicherry University has invented a solar-powered drier which can be boon to the food processing industry as it can be used to dry agricultural produce, poultry and sea food.
It comprises of two components: a solar air heater fitted with panels of two square metres each that can generate hot air; and a drying chamber that dehydrates moisture content from different kinds of food, Assistant Professor, Centre for Green Energy Technology, Pondicherry University, A Sreekumar told KNN.
The project according to Sreekumar was awarded by UGC and developed over a year. Several students were involved in various aspects of the invention.
The government has allocated an outlay of Rs 5,990 crore to promote food processing industries during the 12th Plan period.
“A sum of Rs. 5,990 crore has been allocated under various schemes of the Food Processing Industries ministry for promotion and development of the food processing sector. The sector has high potential for employment generation and optimal utilisation of perishable farm produce such as vegetables and fruits,” said a release from the Ministry of Food Processing Industries.
While a sum of Rs 2,800 crore is for infrastructure development activities, including setting up of mega food parks, integrated cold chains and abattoirs, the National Mission on Food Processing which has been launched in this plan itself will get Rs 1,850 crore.
The Spices Board is planning to establish a Spices Exporters Entrepreneurship Facility at Bengaluru with an outlay of Rs 921 lakhs.
The facility is likely to assist entrepreneurs in setting up units, provide information on potential markets, documentation and procedures, thereby equipping them to export spices.
The Spices Board of India is one of the five Commodity Boards functioning under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. It is an autonomous body responsible for the export promotion of the scheduled spices and production development of some of them such as Cardamom and Vanilla.
The Tamil Nadu government will set up an 'Auto City' in over 1,000 hectare industrial park where global auto giants and the local component makers will be able to set up their manufacturing facilities. The initiative will give a boost not only to the large corporations but also to their vendors in the SME segment.
A special purpose vehicle, Automotive Industrial Development Centre offering investment facilitation to investors would implement the ambitious project, according to the state government.
The Auto City would be equipped with a state of the art logistics hub to provide multi modal transport and common infrastructure like effluent treatment and waste management facilities.
With a draft industrial policy for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) being fine-tuned and the Centre extending a capital subsidy scheme, the Uttarakhand government is getting ready to set up a new industrial estate exclusively for the MSME sector at Lal Kuan in the Kumaon region.
An announcement to this effect had already been made by the former chief minister, Vijay Bahuguna, after the Centre extended the capital investment subsidy scheme under the special industrial package of 2003 for Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand with retrospective effect from January 7, 2013 until March 31, 2017.
West Bengal which produces 24 per cent of the country’s total pineapple yield is keen to put in place measures to increase efficiency of the Pineapple Development Centre at Bidhan Nagar in Darjeeling.
Bidhannagar is the hub of pineapple growing and trading activities. North Bengal (NB) grows over 75 per cent of total Pineapple produced in the state, with production volume of around 7.5 lakh tons.
Each year, the state hosts large scale pineapple festivals.
However, the high potential of the state in pineapple trade is far from being fully exploited, despite the state government’s ‘project pineapple’ under the national horticulture mission to increase production by 300 per cent.
Japan's ruling party wants to loosen self-imposed rules banning arms exports in a bid to boost the country's defence influence, a report said today, a move that would mark a major shift from its pacifism and could irritate China.
A draft document that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wants approved by his cabinet next month would allow Tokyo to supply weaponry to nations that sit along important sea lanes to help them fight piracy, Kyodo News said, an important step for a country like Japan which depends so heavily on mineral imports.
A week-long recent visit by Indian MSME delegation to Lahore and Karachi received overwhelming attention in the Pakistani media which underscored the need for removing irritants to normalise the bilateral trade.
A 15 member delegation of the Federation of Indian Micro & Small and Medium Enterprises (FISME) visited Karachi and Lahore between February 9th and 15th.
The FISME delegation led by Mukesh Kalra had meetings with different Pakistani trade and industry bodies including the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industries (LCCI).
India and US will be collaborating in research to identify new approaches to measurement of blood pressure which are both affordable and suitable for low resource settings in both the countries.
“The purpose of this Indo-US Grand Challenge Initiative between Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), Department of Science and Technology, Government of India and the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), NIH, USA is to encourage research collaborations within and between both countries on the development of new blood pressure measurement technologies for either passive or active monitoring of hypertension,” said an IUSSTF (Indo-US Science and Technology Forum) notice.
According to the FISME Factor, 71 per cent of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), think that the present legislative structures of India of State assemblies and Parliament are under serious challenge.
When you're building a start-up, brick by brick, all your energy is focused on two broad areas. The first, of course, is client acquisition and the second, and the key to the success of your business, is a good start-up team.
Smart hiring can make all the difference to your venture, especially when you start out with only a handful of people. All entrepreneurs would like to have top performers in their team but how do you make sure you're hiring the right people?
Small companies are often caught unaware and inadvertently find themselves entangled in fraudulent financial and legal transactions. This can take many forms but what we are discussing here is the issue of bank guarantees.
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs), especially in the export and import segment, use bank guarantees a great deal. The guarantee is very handy because it is an assurance given by a bank on behalf of one party to another party that has entered into a contract with the other. A bank guarantee can be executed by a bank on behalf of the seller for the buyer or vice-versa.
“SMEs must understand the importance of branding. Now, branding is not only restricted to advertising for television, print media or radio. SMEs must promote its products through social media which is very effective", said veteran advertisement guru Pralhad Kakkar in Pune.
He was speaking at the 22nd forum 'Secrets of Success on SMEs, organised by India SME Forum (ISF). It was centered on the objectives of knowledge-sharing and the best practices to enhance competitiveness of the small and medium entrepreneurs in association with Business Standard.
A prolonged stagnation of pulses production in India until 2005 has widened the gap between their supply and demand. The prices of pulses have soared beyond the reach of poor consumers. To cool inflationary pressure on pulses, the government was forced to look at imports.
A recent study by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) shows that pulses imports rose from 0.1 million tonnes in 2000 to a staggering 4.1 million tonnes in 2012. In value terms, pulses import has joined the billion-dollar club, rising from $45 million in 2000 to $1.93 billion in 2012. Our dependence on imports went up from 0.1 per cent in 2000 to 21 per cent in 2012.
At a time when urban spaces are identified by square inches and home gardens are a pipe dream, would you bet on starting a company that offers gardening solutions? Bangalore-based Myna Batavia dared to do just that. Today, Green Carpets, a venture that came to life in her back garden, is recording a revenue of Rs 1.5 crore per annum.
This was not 50-year-old Batavia's first shot at starting her own company. After completing her post graduation from Mysore University in 1985, she had planned to take up a job like most people. However, three jobs in one-and-a-half years was hardly the perfect start. "All the three companies shut down after I joined," says Batavia.
" The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack in will. " 
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