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President's Message
"
Amidst the sluggish industrial growth, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Industry met last week to discuss the Budget allocations and also MSME support schemes. On behalf of the MSME community, I expressed concern that the ‘Demand for Grants’ for the Ministry of MSME was Rs. 3042.51 Cr. against the total budget of Rs. 3699.00 (last year’s budget estimates)- a reduction of nearly 20%. The bias against MSMEs runs deep in the system. Not just the reduction in allocations, the Budget (2015-16) specifically denied to MSMEs the benefits of investment allowance and incentives for employing more people. Further, salt is rubbed on their wounds by hiking Imports duty on their major raw material Steel and continuing to ban acceptance of loans and deposits by Companies.
"
FISME organized ‘Profit Mantras for Business’ continuing the nationwide series of workshops for bringing practical wisdom to entrepreneurs on 12th March 2015 at Hotel Dreams in Kochi.
FISME organised this programme along with Kerala Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) with a focus on Finance, Marketing & Technology.
Mr. Mathew Kuruvithadam, Chairman, Kerala Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) welcomed the participants. A presentation on Finance was given by Mr. Vishal Devanath, Founder, Smergers. Mr. Joe Joseph, Hewlett-Packard India gave an insight on New Style of Information Technology through a presentation.
An awareness programme on QMS / QTT was organised by FISME at Baddi the major manufacturing hub of Himachal Pradesh on 9th March, 2015. The programme was organised under the support from the Office of DC (MSME), Government of India, under NMCP programme / Scheme for "Enabling Manufacturing Sector be Competitive through Quality Management Standards and Quality Technology Tools". Baddi, Barotiwala, Nalagarh Industries Association (BBNIA) was the local partner in organising the programme. The programme was conducted by Sh. Naresh Chawla, an eminent expert on quality tools, six sigma etc.
FISME in association The South India Textile Research Institute has organised inception workshop for Textiles & Garments on 4th March, 2015 at Coimbatore under the Project “Promotion of Regional Value Chains for SAARC Countries.
The project is supported by German Technical Cooperation, GIZ under SAARC Trade Promotion Network. The project is being implemented by FISME as lead partner of this project and being supported by SMEDA, SME foundation and NCCSL of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
A FISME delegation headed by Mr. Mukesh Kalra, Joint Secretary (International Trade) visited Taipei International Machine Tool Show, popularly known as TIMTOS organized by Taiwan External Trade Development Council & Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry This is one of the largest exhibitions in Taiwan with close to 1000 exhibitors.
Here are thirty of the most important startup lessons I learned from 2002-2012 while building iContact.
1. Don’t get stuck in analysis paralysis. Take action now.
Sometimes you’re not going to see all the way to your end destination when you start, but just take the very first steps and the world will open up with new people, new resources, and new opportunities that enable you to achieve more than you can even fathom today.
2. It’s up to you to get out there and do it, to take the initiative.
No one else is going to do it if you don’t. It’s your job to take chances and make things happen.
India's economy is doing better than its peers, with recent policy reforms and improved business confidence set to boost growth to 7.5 percent in the fiscal year.
The Centre today said it has paid Rs. 32,800 crore to states as compensation for phasing out of Central Sales Tax in the run-up to roll-out of Goods and Services Tax.
As per the estimates of Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers, there is an outstanding of Rs.10, 797 crore towards Central Sales Tax (CST) compensation for 2010-11 which is yet to be paid to states.
“A total of Rs. 32,800.93 crore has been paid to the states towards CST compensation for the year 2007-08 to 2010-11,” Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha.
One of the largest greenfield projects in packaging board will go on stream in Tamil Nadu when Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Papers Ltd commissions its two-lakh-tonne a year factory by the year end.
Construction of the ₹1,500-crore plant, located in an industrially backward area in Tiruchi district, started last April and company officials are confident that by December the equipment will be fully set up and trial production started.
Installing of equipment started in January, a full month ahead of schedule.
Market regulator SEBI has suggested certain changes to the conditions stipulated in the Finance Bill for extending beneficial tax treatment to offshore funds investing in India.
To encourage fund managers of offshore funds to locate themselves in India, the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had in his recent budget proposed beneficial tax regime for offshore funds and their fund managers so long as they met certain conditions.
While offshore funds had to fulfill 13 conditions, the fund manager had to conform to four conditions for not to be considered as "tax resident in India" and avoid facing adverse tax consequences.
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu is betting big on technology to bring back Indian Railways on track in manifold ways, be it by increasing passenger amenities, safety or efficiency of the national transporter.
This was clear from the repeated reference to use of technology as Prabhu read out the Railway Budget for 2015-16 on Thursday and from the slew of technological initiatives that have been announced. This is in line with the bigger agenda of the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre with its ongoing missions around Digital India and Make in India.
From online booking of bed linen and food to a mobile application for passenger complaints to a 24*7 helpline number to bar-coded/RFID tracking of parcels and freight wagons to a train protection warning system and a train collision avoidance system, technology will find use under the watch of Prabhu, whose aim seems to be fixing the broken parts of the railways instead of a radical revamp.
The US has sought a meeting with India to take stock of the progress in the new Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) policy being drafted by the country.
While the US Government has not yet given inputs on the draft policy for which comments have been invited from all stakeholders, it is not happy about India’s unwillingness to make changes in the IPR law to enhance patent protection, a Government official told BusinessLine.
Despite Washington’s eagerness to resolve the issues through frequent meetings, India has refused to meet US officials immediately on the issue.
The second Automotive Mission Plan (AMP) that will chalk out the direction for the automotive industry for the next 10 years (2016 to 2026) will be ready by September, said Ambuj Sharma, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Heavy Industries.
The mission will work on areas such as auto fuel policy, research and development (R&D), exports, technology, electric vehicles and government policy with ‘stability of policy’ being the main feature, he said at a conference on Automotive R&D Trends Towards Strengthening Indian Automotive R&D, jointly organised by the CII and the Tamil Nadu Technology Development and Promotion Centre.
“We wanted to take into account all regulations and Budget parameters before launching the mission,” he said.
Exporters and importers will now need just three mandatory documents each to carry out their business, cutting down significantly on transaction time and cost.
The reduction in mandatory documentation requirement, notified by the government on Thursday, marks a huge improvement over the earlier dispensation.
As many as seven mandatory documents were required for exports and 10 documents for imports in India, as per the World Bank’s 2015 Report.
With the increasing demand for making electronic payments easier, the Reserve Bank today said it is willing to relax the norms only for 'card present' transactions where near-field communication (NFC) technology is used.
It said the ATM transactions where the card is not present will continue to require the additional factor of authentication, a PIN or one-time password.
“It has been decided to relax the extant instructions relating to the need for additional factor of authentication requirements for small value card present transactions only using contact-less card payments using NFC," it said in the draft circular late this evening.
Seeking to improve air connectivity, the Gujarat government has decided to develop six new airstrips in smaller towns in the state.
State Civil Aviation Minister Saurabh Patel told this to the State Legislative Assembly while replying to a query by BJP Surat MLA Harsh Sanghvi.
"The government has selected six different towns across the state to build airstrips. These are Ankleshwar and Dahej in central Gujarat, Palitana and Ambaji in northern Gujarat and Morbi and Dwarka in Saurashtra region," he said.
Nirmala Sitharaman, MoS (independent Charge), Ministry of Commerce & Industry said that her government was taking up various measures to promote exports by small and medium pharmaceutical manufacturers.
She informed that under the Credit Linked Capital Subsidy Scheme (CLCSS) of Ministry of MSME, the micro and small enterprises are entitled to take loan upto Rs 1 crore with 15 percent subsidy. This was available for technology up gradation to micro and small enterprises in the pharma sector.
Karnataka will put in place new start-up and biotechnology policies to further strengthen the tech ecosystem in the state, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced in Budget 2015-16.
It is proposed to evolve a start-up policy to give further boost to the vibrant start-up ecosystem in the state, he said, adding that a start-up fund and Hack-Cellerator will be also be set up.
Besides, the Chief Minister said that a new biotechnology policy, including Bio-Venture, fund will be evolved.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has proposed to develop the Bengaluru–Mumbai Economic Corridor through three industrial nodes spread over 10,000 acres in the next five years. He announced this in his 10th budget and third after becoming the Chief Minister.
To continue the development along NH4 the govt. is planning to create two or three major hubs along the Mumbai-Bangalore economic corridor, he added.
While presenting the state budget 2015-16, Sh Tarun Gogoi, Chief Minister of Assam announced the credit linked special incentives package for micro and small enterprises in the state to encourage the flow of credit to micro and small enterprises and to enhance their viability. Sh Tarun Gogoi also holds the additional finance portfolio.
Depending on the scale and entitlement, 10 per cent to 50 per cent interest subvention would be provided to micro and small enterprises on the term loan disbursed by the scheduled commercial banks and state financial corporation.
The Maharashtra government will set up an electronics manufacturing cluster (EMC) in Pune, entailing investment of Rs 70.89 crore. The India Electronics and Semiconductor Association (ESDM) has prepared a detailed project report (DPR) for the proposed cluster in Pune, in association with Mahratta Chamber of Commerce Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA).
"Pune has a rich history of research and innovation and over the years, it has emerged as the engineering capital of our country.
After a long hiatus, the governments of India and Mauritius agreed on Thursday to resume talks for reviewing their Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC), even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he would not allow it to be misused for tax evasion.
In his address to the National Assembly of that country, Modi said he'd raised the issue with Mauritian counterpart Aneerood Jugnauth. “We understand the importance of the offshore banking sector for your economy. We are conscious of its dependence on India. We will work together for our shared objective to avoid the abuse of our DTAC.
India is among the 89 countries which will participate in the three-day Egypt Economic Development Conference (EEDC) that kicks off today at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
Egypt plans to promote at least 60 projects at the long-awaited economic gathering, with the aim of getting fresh investments to boost its limping economy, conference spokesperson Hossam el-Kawish said yesterday.
Promising complete cooperation in creating a business-friendly environment on all aspects, India has asked German companies to invest in the country and take optimum advantage of the 'Make in India' initiative.
"The Government of India is committed to creating an enabling environment wherein global business corporations are extended complete cooperation for guiding foreign investors on all aspects," India's Consulate General in Frankfurt Raveesh Kumar said during a networking event organised in Pfalzbau.
The Union Ministry of Culture has set the ball rolling for holding the next round of Festivals of India abroad during the period 2015-16. The Secretary, Culture, Shri Ravindra Singh today held a video conference with Ambassadors/High Commissioners of South Korea, Australia, Mauritius and Myanmar in this regard. Similar festivals have already been organized successfully in various countries like Malaysia, China, Indonesia, South Africa and Japan among others.
Discussing the details with the Ambassadors and High Commissioners, the Secretary pointed out that these festivals can be used to showcase Indian art, culture, life and achievements.
How do you think Jaitley's Union Budget 2015-16 has affected the SME sector?
According to the FISME Factor, 63 per cent of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) think that Jaitley's Union Budget 2015-16 will affect the SME sector favourably, 38 per cent think it will not have any affect whereas none feels it will affect unfavourably.
Developing Recognition Practices that Strengthen Company Culture
How employees experience recognition is one of the most important factors in their overall perception of their company as a great place to work.
Finance is required by a business enterprise at almost every stage of the business life cycle. MSMEs often find it difficult to arrange adequate finance for their operations as well as for expansion and growth. These enterprises can raise finance by various methods. Below are some of the ways to raise long term and short term capital.
As a small business, you may think it's impossible to get the word out about what you do. That's no excuse. And you don't need fads or gimmicks. Follow the proven, timeless tips and techniques of these entrepreneurs to help get the word out about your business and watch it grow.
Employers, workers may shell out more for EPF contributions
Employers as well as formal sector workers may have to shell out more towards Employees’ Provident Fund with the government proposing to include all allowances in the wages for deducting PF contribution.
How 3 women entrepreneurs from rural India are creating opportunities for others
Every year, the international community bands together on March 8th to celebrate International Women’s Day. From retailers throwing sales to social activists and organizations hosting various events– the focus through March is on women: their victories, their needs, and their issues.
‘We looked at new opportunities even during times of challenges’
In an interview with Sanjeev Sinha, Dr Anil Jindal, chairman of the Faridabad-based SRS Group, talks about how he has been able to build a multi-crore empire through timely diversification. Excerpts:
Q: From delivering milk on a cycle to creating a multi-crore business empire. You seem to have come a long way!
FISME regularly receives monthly reports on the economies of various countries from their missions in India. These reports provide information on key economic parameters, trade related information and all news relevant for importers and exporters. In this edition you can take a look at reports on:
Write your comments on the FISME Factor. Share your views and suggestions on MSME issues. Win prize! The best mail will get a special book every fortnight.
send mail to: newsletter@fisme.org.in
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This Newsletter is edited by the FISME Secretariat. We welcome contributions as well as comments and suggestions. Please write to newsletter@fisme.org.in
"
Amidst the sluggish industrial growth, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Industry met last week to discuss the Budget allocations and also MSME support schemes. On behalf of the MSME community, I expressed concern that the ‘Demand for Grants’ for the Ministry of MSME was Rs. 3042.51 Cr. against the total budget of Rs. 3699.00 (last year’s budget estimates)- a reduction of nearly 20%. The bias against MSMEs runs deep in the system. Not just the reduction in allocations, the Budget (2015-16) specifically denied to MSMEs the benefits of investment allowance and incentives for employing more people. Further, salt is rubbed on their wounds by hiking Imports duty on their major raw material Steel and continuing to ban acceptance of loans and deposits by Companies.
"
FISME organized ‘Profit Mantras for Business’ continuing the nationwide series of workshops for bringing practical wisdom to entrepreneurs on 12th March 2015 at Hotel Dreams in Kochi.
FISME organised this programme along with Kerala Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) with a focus on Finance, Marketing & Technology.
Mr. Mathew Kuruvithadam, Chairman, Kerala Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) welcomed the participants. A presentation on Finance was given by Mr. Vishal Devanath, Founder, Smergers. Mr. Joe Joseph, Hewlett-Packard India gave an insight on New Style of Information Technology through a presentation.
An awareness programme on QMS / QTT was organised by FISME at Baddi the major manufacturing hub of Himachal Pradesh on 9th March, 2015. The programme was organised under the support from the Office of DC (MSME), Government of India, under NMCP programme / Scheme for "Enabling Manufacturing Sector be Competitive through Quality Management Standards and Quality Technology Tools". Baddi, Barotiwala, Nalagarh Industries Association (BBNIA) was the local partner in organising the programme. The programme was conducted by Sh. Naresh Chawla, an eminent expert on quality tools, six sigma etc.
FISME in association The South India Textile Research Institute has organised inception workshop for Textiles & Garments on 4th March, 2015 at Coimbatore under the Project “Promotion of Regional Value Chains for SAARC Countries.
The project is supported by German Technical Cooperation, GIZ under SAARC Trade Promotion Network. The project is being implemented by FISME as lead partner of this project and being supported by SMEDA, SME foundation and NCCSL of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
A FISME delegation headed by Mr. Mukesh Kalra, Joint Secretary (International Trade) visited Taipei International Machine Tool Show, popularly known as TIMTOS organized by Taiwan External Trade Development Council & Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry This is one of the largest exhibitions in Taiwan with close to 1000 exhibitors.
Here are thirty of the most important startup lessons I learned from 2002-2012 while building iContact.
1. Don’t get stuck in analysis paralysis. Take action now.
Sometimes you’re not going to see all the way to your end destination when you start, but just take the very first steps and the world will open up with new people, new resources, and new opportunities that enable you to achieve more than you can even fathom today.
2. It’s up to you to get out there and do it, to take the initiative.
No one else is going to do it if you don’t. It’s your job to take chances and make things happen.
The Centre today said it has paid Rs. 32,800 crore to states as compensation for phasing out of Central Sales Tax in the run-up to roll-out of Goods and Services Tax.
As per the estimates of Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers, there is an outstanding of Rs.10, 797 crore towards Central Sales Tax (CST) compensation for 2010-11 which is yet to be paid to states.
“A total of Rs. 32,800.93 crore has been paid to the states towards CST compensation for the year 2007-08 to 2010-11,” Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha.
One of the largest greenfield projects in packaging board will go on stream in Tamil Nadu when Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Papers Ltd commissions its two-lakh-tonne a year factory by the year end.
Construction of the ₹1,500-crore plant, located in an industrially backward area in Tiruchi district, started last April and company officials are confident that by December the equipment will be fully set up and trial production started.
Installing of equipment started in January, a full month ahead of schedule.
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu is betting big on technology to bring back Indian Railways on track in manifold ways, be it by increasing passenger amenities, safety or efficiency of the national transporter.
This was clear from the repeated reference to use of technology as Prabhu read out the Railway Budget for 2015-16 on Thursday and from the slew of technological initiatives that have been announced. This is in line with the bigger agenda of the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre with its ongoing missions around Digital India and Make in India.
From online booking of bed linen and food to a mobile application for passenger complaints to a 24*7 helpline number to bar-coded/RFID tracking of parcels and freight wagons to a train protection warning system and a train collision avoidance system, technology will find use under the watch of Prabhu, whose aim seems to be fixing the broken parts of the railways instead of a radical revamp.
The second Automotive Mission Plan (AMP) that will chalk out the direction for the automotive industry for the next 10 years (2016 to 2026) will be ready by September, said Ambuj Sharma, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Heavy Industries.
The mission will work on areas such as auto fuel policy, research and development (R&D), exports, technology, electric vehicles and government policy with ‘stability of policy’ being the main feature, he said at a conference on Automotive R&D Trends Towards Strengthening Indian Automotive R&D, jointly organised by the CII and the Tamil Nadu Technology Development and Promotion Centre.
“We wanted to take into account all regulations and Budget parameters before launching the mission,” he said.
With the increasing demand for making electronic payments easier, the Reserve Bank today said it is willing to relax the norms only for 'card present' transactions where near-field communication (NFC) technology is used.
It said the ATM transactions where the card is not present will continue to require the additional factor of authentication, a PIN or one-time password.
“It has been decided to relax the extant instructions relating to the need for additional factor of authentication requirements for small value card present transactions only using contact-less card payments using NFC," it said in the draft circular late this evening.
Seeking to improve air connectivity, the Gujarat government has decided to develop six new airstrips in smaller towns in the state.
State Civil Aviation Minister Saurabh Patel told this to the State Legislative Assembly while replying to a query by BJP Surat MLA Harsh Sanghvi.
"The government has selected six different towns across the state to build airstrips. These are Ankleshwar and Dahej in central Gujarat, Palitana and Ambaji in northern Gujarat and Morbi and Dwarka in Saurashtra region," he said.
Karnataka will put in place new start-up and biotechnology policies to further strengthen the tech ecosystem in the state, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced in Budget 2015-16.
It is proposed to evolve a start-up policy to give further boost to the vibrant start-up ecosystem in the state, he said, adding that a start-up fund and Hack-Cellerator will be also be set up.
Besides, the Chief Minister said that a new biotechnology policy, including Bio-Venture, fund will be evolved.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has proposed to develop the Bengaluru–Mumbai Economic Corridor through three industrial nodes spread over 10,000 acres in the next five years. He announced this in his 10th budget and third after becoming the Chief Minister.
To continue the development along NH4 the govt. is planning to create two or three major hubs along the Mumbai-Bangalore economic corridor, he added.
While presenting the state budget 2015-16, Sh Tarun Gogoi, Chief Minister of Assam announced the credit linked special incentives package for micro and small enterprises in the state to encourage the flow of credit to micro and small enterprises and to enhance their viability. Sh Tarun Gogoi also holds the additional finance portfolio.
Depending on the scale and entitlement, 10 per cent to 50 per cent interest subvention would be provided to micro and small enterprises on the term loan disbursed by the scheduled commercial banks and state financial corporation.
After a long hiatus, the governments of India and Mauritius agreed on Thursday to resume talks for reviewing their Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC), even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he would not allow it to be misused for tax evasion.
In his address to the National Assembly of that country, Modi said he'd raised the issue with Mauritian counterpart Aneerood Jugnauth. “We understand the importance of the offshore banking sector for your economy. We are conscious of its dependence on India. We will work together for our shared objective to avoid the abuse of our DTAC.
India is among the 89 countries which will participate in the three-day Egypt Economic Development Conference (EEDC) that kicks off today at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
Egypt plans to promote at least 60 projects at the long-awaited economic gathering, with the aim of getting fresh investments to boost its limping economy, conference spokesperson Hossam el-Kawish said yesterday.
Promising complete cooperation in creating a business-friendly environment on all aspects, India has asked German companies to invest in the country and take optimum advantage of the 'Make in India' initiative.
"The Government of India is committed to creating an enabling environment wherein global business corporations are extended complete cooperation for guiding foreign investors on all aspects," India's Consulate General in Frankfurt Raveesh Kumar said during a networking event organised in Pfalzbau.
The Union Ministry of Culture has set the ball rolling for holding the next round of Festivals of India abroad during the period 2015-16. The Secretary, Culture, Shri Ravindra Singh today held a video conference with Ambassadors/High Commissioners of South Korea, Australia, Mauritius and Myanmar in this regard. Similar festivals have already been organized successfully in various countries like Malaysia, China, Indonesia, South Africa and Japan among others.
Discussing the details with the Ambassadors and High Commissioners, the Secretary pointed out that these festivals can be used to showcase Indian art, culture, life and achievements.
According to the FISME Factor, 63 per cent of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) think that Jaitley's Union Budget 2015-16 will affect the SME sector favourably, 38 per cent think it will not have any affect whereas none feels it will affect unfavourably.
Developing Recognition Practices that Strengthen Company Culture
How employees experience recognition is one of the most important factors in their overall perception of their company as a great place to work.
Finance is required by a business enterprise at almost every stage of the business life cycle. MSMEs often find it difficult to arrange adequate finance for their operations as well as for expansion and growth. These enterprises can raise finance by various methods. Below are some of the ways to raise long term and short term capital.
As a small business, you may think it's impossible to get the word out about what you do. That's no excuse. And you don't need fads or gimmicks. Follow the proven, timeless tips and techniques of these entrepreneurs to help get the word out about your business and watch it grow.
Employers as well as formal sector workers may have to shell out more towards Employees’ Provident Fund with the government proposing to include all allowances in the wages for deducting PF contribution.
Every year, the international community bands together on March 8th to celebrate International Women’s Day. From retailers throwing sales to social activists and organizations hosting various events– the focus through March is on women: their victories, their needs, and their issues.
In an interview with Sanjeev Sinha, Dr Anil Jindal, chairman of the Faridabad-based SRS Group, talks about how he has been able to build a multi-crore empire through timely diversification. Excerpts:
Q: From delivering milk on a cycle to creating a multi-crore business empire. You seem to have come a long way!
“Don’t worry about people stealing your design work. Worry about the day they stop.” 
