" At the outset, let me express my best wishes to you and your family on this joyous occasion of Diwali. May Diwali bring increased happiness, peace and prosperity in the life of all our members and our associates. On the occasion, let me also announce opening of our China office in Shanghai. The shift of our presence from Beijing to Shanghai marks a renewed focus on trade and business opportunities for Indian MSMEs. I invite you all to explore China with renewed vigour. "
An Interactive Discussion was held at FISME office on 29th October 2013 to discuss what MSMEs expect from the next government as well as the critical issues confronting MSMEs with office bearers of select associations. The meeting was attended by senior office bearers of Gurgaon Industries associations, Electric Lamp and Component Manufacturers’ Association, Indian Plastic Manufacturers’ Association etc. besides the members of Central Executive Committee of FISME. At the meeting crucial bottlenecks in the growth of the MSME sector in the areas of Finance, Taxation, and Infrastructure, Power, Marketing and unequal competition were discussed and suggestions for overcoming them were made.
Indian SMEs need to look at Mexico- a member of NAFTA, as a gateway to access one of world’s largest markets: US and Canada. It is said that, for US importers Mexico is like having China next door. During a dialogue with FISME’s office bearers and executive committee members on 29th Oct 2013, Ms. Juana Nunez Campos from the Economic affairs section of Embassy of Mexico informed that India-Mexico bilateral trade would soon cross US$ 10 bn. Mexico is the leader in Latin America with trade volume of US$ 741 bn dollars in 2012, much larger than Brazil's trade US$ 408 bn.
FISME’s China office has become operational in Shanghai. While FISME had a presence in Beijing earlier with ICEC, the decision to shift FISME’s chapter to Shanghai was taken because of rising needs of members for support in matters related to trade and commerce. Located in Pudong area of Shanghai, the office will help Indian MSMEs in identification of buyers and suppliers, coordinate industrial/ factory visits, pre-shipment and quality inspections. It will coordinate inbound and outbound trade delegations for Indian and Chinese chambers and associations.
-Bill Aulet, the managing director of the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship
Educators spend too much time regaling students with tales from the trenches and not enough time providing clear directions, says Mr. Aulet, who worked for more than a decade at International Business Machines Corp. before launching a series of startups, including 3-D imaging company SensAble Technologies Inc. He takes a different approach when teaching entrepreneurs. In his new book, "Disciplined Entrepreneurship," he details 24 steps to create a successful startup—from selecting a market to calculating customer acquisition costs. He admits that many of the individual steps aren't revolutionary, but says that by establishing them around themes such as how a customer can get your product and how you actually make money off the product, aspiring entrepreneurs can have some semblance of a road map.
[Adapted from Lessons in Entrepreneurship, The Wall Street Journal]
India, which was ranked 131 last year, has slipped to 134 out of 189 countries, in the ease of doing business, according to the World Bank. Singapore, Hong Kong and New Zealand are at the top of the list. It is even tougher to start a new business here, because India's rank drops to 179 in the list. Yet, businesses can and do continue to crop up in this country. The government's periodic Economic Censuses show that in 1980, there were around 19 million enterprises in India. By 2005, this number had grown to 41 million, more than doubling in 25 years.
Along expected lines, the Reserve Bank of India Governor hiked the repo rate by 25 basis points in the October monetary policy review today.
The repo rate is now at 7.75 per cent. He had also raised it by 25 bps in the mid-quarter review in September.
Repo rate is the rate at which banks borrow short term funds from RBI.
Inflation has been on the upswing during the past few months. Wholesale price index (WPI) inflation touched 6.46 per cent in September while consumer price index inflation was at 9.84 per cent. Both these measures have been way beyond the comfort level of the RBI.
Slowdown is resulting in consumers using less plastic money. Credit card dues for the banking sector grew 2.1 per cent year-on-year in September from 21.8 per cent a year ago, showed Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data released on Friday.
"During the first half of this financial year, jewellery, consumer goods and travel have not grown significantly. These are where credit card usage is high. Because of the depreciation of the rupee, many postponed or cancelled travel abroad. Also, the incremental spends on garments, mobile phones and other consumer goods have been low in the first six months. RBI came down heavily on jewellers.
The Reserve Bank of India has scaled down the growth forecast for the current fiscal to 5 per cent from the earlier projection of 5.5 per cent, citing downside risk stemming from domestic constraints.
“ ... headwinds to growth from domestic constraints continue to pose downside risks, and vulnerabilities to sudden shifts in the external environment remain,” RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan today said in the second quarter review of monetary policy.
RBI had projected 5.5 per cent growth for 2013-14 in its first quarter monetary policy on July 30.The economy grew 4.4 per cent in the first (April-June) quarter of the current fiscal. It had expanded by 5 per cent in 2012-13 fiscal, the lowest level in a decade.
The common man is unlikely to get relief from rising prices in the months ahead, with the RBI today saying retail inflation will remain above 9 per cent during the course of this financial year.
Retail inflation measured by the consumer price index (CPI) has risen sharply across the food and non-food constituents, including services, keeping inflation expectations high, the Reserve Bank of India said in its Second Quarter Review of Monetary Policy 2013-14.
“Notwithstanding the expected edging down of food inflation, retail inflation is likely to remain around or even above 9 per cent in the months ahead, absent policy action,” the central bank said.
India slipped further to 134th rank from 132nd in terms of ease of doing business index, according to World Bank report, coming in behind its neighbours Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and China.
While Pakistan ranked 110, Nepal was 105, China 96 and Bangladesh 130, said the World Bank Report titled, ‘Doing Business 2014 - Understanding Regulations for Small and Medium-Size Enterprises.’ India, the report said, has made an improvement of 0.5 percentage points in what is called "the distance to frontier" measure with a range between 0 and 100, with 100 representing the best performance or the frontier.
India has produced close to 108 lakh bales of jute during the last fiscal, touching 2353 quintals per hectare. However, jute cultivation area has remained constant over the last few years at about 9 lakh hectares.
“India is leading jute goods producing country in the world, accounting for about 70 per cent of estimated world production,” said an official notification of the indigenous fibre which has occupied an important and integral part of the national economy in India.
Products made of the natural fibre include jute bags and diversified jute products which are in great demand around the world. It is also used for making burlap, sacking and carpet backing cloth.
As many as three Indian firms in the MSME sector will receive 4.2 million pounds sterling (Rs 42.38 crore) from the UK Department for International Development (DFID) for expansion of their businesses which are related directly or indirectly to the lives of poor people.
The companies receiving the UK Samridhi funds are Glocal Healthcare System (Rs 24.6 crore), Gramco Infratech (Rs 14.7 crore) and Shikhar Dairy (Rs 1.9 crore).
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today increased the benchmark lending rate by 0.25 percentage points but its governor, Raghuram Rajan assured the small and medium enterprises that they would be given more bank credit by reaching out to the poor and remote areas.
In the second quarter review of the Monitory Policy, the RBI balanced the increase in the repo lending rate by reducing the rate on Marginal Standing Facility (MSF), at which most of the banks borrow.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram today asked public sector banks to adequately meet credit requirements of the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
There has been widespread demand from the industry, from the government and the Reserve Bank of India that the MSME sector should be given a special dispensation. Finance Minister P Chidambaram today asked public sector banks to adequately meet credit requirements of the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
There has been widespread demand from the industry, from the government and the Reserve Bank of India that the MSME sector should be given a special dispensation.
The Reserve Bank of India has advised banks to provide collateral free loans to micro and small enterprises with credit limits upto Rs one million to ensure their growth and development.
“As availability of timely and adequate bank credit without the hassles of collateral and third party guarantees is of essence to small first generation entrepreneurs, the Reserve Bank of India had enjoined upon banks to provide collateral free loans to Micro and Small enterprises with credit limits up to Rs.1 million,” said Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India, K C Chakrabarty said in a recent address here.
Inuit Cloud Technologies is set to launch I-nu-It, an affordable software on the cloud that will provide an affordable, easy and quick software solution to over 18 million small and medium enterprises in India.
SMEs in India driving 40 per cent GDP of the country cannot afford expensive solutions and therefore need to have quick and simple software to automate their business processes, said a press release.
Speaking of their offering which will be launched on November-1, CEO of I-nu-IT Cloud Technologies M H Narasimhan explained how I-nu-It provides the 5-12-5 advantage to SMEs of India.
A sharp rise of about 40 per cent in prices of firecrackers has led to a steep decline in sales from production centres like Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu and wholesale markets in major cities including the national capital, hitting in the process small and medium businesses.
The firecracker industry which is mostly in the SME segment is facing the double whammy of inflation and demand slowdown.
At a time when the government decides to infuse Rs 14,000 crore equity capital to public sector banks and pumps in crores to bailout corporate giants, Indian MSMEs, considered to be the country’s financial backbone, continue to fight for survival.
It’s definitely ironical, more so when it’s the public sector undertakings that owe huge amounts of money to SMEs.
According to the balance-sheet disclosures of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), the state-run power equipment manufacturer, it has total outstandings of Rs 503.30 crore in the 2012-13 financial year and Rs 554.33 crore the previous year.
The BSE-SME Platform which was launched in March this year would soon have 50 companies listed on the exchange for the small and medium enterprises while additional norms for listing have been introduced.
As many as 38 companies have already been listed on the exchange with the Ahmedabad-based VCU Data Management, engaged in development of mobile application system becoming the latest.
The VCU Data Management has successfully completed its public issue…” the BSE said in a release.
The Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises (FSME) in Andhra Pradesh has urged the state government and the Reserve Bank of India to save the business units, which are dying due to severe power cuts hampering production, reports Business Line. According to RBI data, around 6500 units in the state have become sick from last April to June. A.P.K. Reddy, President of FSME said, “Total non-performing assets in MSE sector stood at Rs 3,025 crore as on June 2013 as compared with Rs 2,589 crore as on March, 2013.”
The MSME Technology Centre that is coming up in Rohtak, Haryana at a cost of Rs 125 crore will benefit more than 4500 micro, small and medium units.
“After setting up of MSME Technology Centre at Rohtak more than 4500 MSME units manufacturing Auto components, General Engineering /Fasteners etc will get advantage in developing world class dies, tools, moulds, jigs, fixtures in addition to testing facilities and trained technical manpower,” MSME Minister K H Muniyappa said while laying the foundation stone yesterday for the project on a 19.8-acre property provided by the Haryana state government free of cost.
In a bid to revive the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) of Odisha, badly affected by October 12 cyclone Phailin and consequent floods, apex industry body of the state the Utkal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UCCI) has requested the state government to grant a special package for the sector, reports Business Standard.
We request you to kindly advice the MSME department to make a study on the massive damage caused to the MSME units and bring out a proper package for their early rehabilitation. The hotel industries have also suffered a lot. SIDBI should be asked to sanction interest free loan to the affected industries on war footing and some kind of government grant may be extended to these units," Debabrata Dash, secretary, UCCI wrote to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
A World Trade Centre would be set up in Mohali to connect local MSMEs with international counterparts, the WTC Association CEO Eric Dahl said today.
The New York-based World Trade Centre (WTC) Association, which has a network of trade centres across the globe, including New York, Dubai, Chicago, will develop a Grade A+ state of the art facility at Mohali "encompassing office spaces, conference facilities, auditorium, retail and exhibition area," he said.
Uttarakhand Tourism that was hit by floods in June is taking steps to invest in infrastructure and develop its tourist destinations, in particular the Naukuchiatal Lake.
Having received a loan from the Asian Development Bank, the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board (UTDB) is now keen to procure goods such as commodities, raw material, machinery and equipment and related services such as insurance, installation, training and maintenance for the project.
India and France Wednesday signed a host of agreements for cooperation in the fields of science and technology and health and education and announced various programmes for increasing bilateral collaboration in research and design.
The Union Science and Technology Ministry today said its Technology Development Board had entered into an agreement with BPI, France, to organise funding for technology development projects on which the two countries could work together.
Similarly, CEFIPRA, which is the Indo-French Centre for Promotion of Advance Research, has embarked on an ambitious programme to bring together clusters from France and India and enhance industry-industry-academia linkages with the underlying theme of innovation.
India and China have agreed to facilitate setting up of a Chinese industrial park in India for promoting mutual investment.
“Premier Li was receptive to my concern about the unsustainable trade imbalance between our two countries and we have agreed to explore avenues to bridge this gap. We are taking forward the suggestion made by Premier Li in New Delhi for a Chinese industrial park to act as a magnet for Chinese investment in India,” said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in a statement.
In an effort to enhance small and medium enterprises (SMEs), the Chinese government has simplified its corporate registration system to ease market access and at the same time encourage social investment.
The government’s decision will play a key role in providing opportunities for business start-ups in the country. As per the new policy, the government will scrap minimum registered capital requirements for limited liability companies, one-person limited liability companies, as well as joint-stock companies with limited liability, said a Xinhua report.
The proposed highway covering India, Myanmar and Thailand will enhance trade of pulses and timber among these countries and the overall level of commercial engagement among them.
Addressing at CII function here today, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said the highway is expected to be operational soon. It is expected to help in smoother and faster movement of goods in this region.
The Dean, ASEAN and High Commissioner of Brunei to India, Dato Padula Hj Sidek Ali on Tuesday said that ASEAN welcomed the decision of the Indian Government to send an Envoy to ASEAN.
The Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, announced the Envoy recently.
The Charge d Affairs, High Commission of Malaysia Aida Safinaz Allias, said that Malaysia will have more trade with India. Addressing a seminar organised by Assocham, the diplomat said Malaysia would like to see increase in the items traded.
A business delegation from Malaysia will be visiting India early next year, he added.
In a joint venture to boost the steel industry, Indian delegates are currently on a visit to Poland to strengthen ties between the two countries in the areas of steel making and coal mining.
The delegation led by the Minister of Steel, Beni Prasad Verma met the Deputy Prime Minister Republic of Poland, Janusz Piechocinski, who is also the Economic Minister at Warsaw yesterday.
On the purpose of the visit, Verma said that Polish mining companies had the technical knowhow of developing and operating deep-coal mines. He emphasized the need to develop coking coal mines in India with sustainable and environmentally friendly and clean coal technologies.
Date: 17-25 November 2013 Venue: New Delhi See Details
FISME delegation to Metalex 2013-November 2013
Date: 19-23 November 2013 Venue: Bangkok See Details
FISME delegation to Pakistan
Date: 25 Nov to 30 Nov 2013 Venue: Karachi and Lahore See Details
Sourcing Exhibition in India by Hannover Milano
Date: 17th – 20th December 2013 Venue: Pragati Maidan, New Delhi See Details
“The Wind beneath the Wings”
A Blog by Anil Bhardwaj, Secretary General FISME
Counting the beans: How many MSMEs are in India? Part-I
The micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) sector in India remains an enigma. Though most of us do carry a vague idea about the sector that it creates large scale employment and also contributes significantly in exports and industrial production, getting granular details about it is agonizingly difficult. Answering even a seemingly straight forward question- ‘How many micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are there in India’, is actually nightmarish exercise given the overlapping definitions of economic activities and different frames used for their data collection by different agencies.
The festive season had impacted order book negatively
According to the FISME Factor, 71 per cent of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), think that this festive season had influenced their order book negatively main reason being economic slowdown and high inflation.
This is a scenario every business owner is faced with: you've done everything you can to hire people who were the best possible fit in your start-up. But, sooner or later, you realise that an employee is under-performing and is a liability rather than an asset. You instinctively decide to let them go. But wait up! That could be a blotch on the reputation of your young enterprise. So what are your options?
The general perception that women are shopaholics who love to spend and very bad investors could very well be a thing of the past with more and more women taking responsibility for their earnings and investment. This is critical nowadays, where single incomes are no match for a bloating inflation!
Would a fast food joint in Pune attract crowds from Nagpur? Likewise, it would be a colossal waste of money for a tattoo artist to advertise at a public park frequented by septuagenarians. And that, precisely, is the downfall of mass advertising. To get the best mileage out of ad spends, brands are now making sure they reach the right target audience. Enter, targeted marketing.
A growing number of businessmen find themselves under the lens. Are they being persecuted by an unfriendly government or is it the unravelling of crony capitalism?
Mr S has an enviable art collection in his spacious New Delhi home: works by MF Husain, Satish Gujral and Manjit Bawa. Though not known to be publicity-averse and a regular in lifestyle glossies, he recently turned down a request from Business Standard Weekend to review his collection. He was candid enough to admit that he is currently dealing with a regulator, and given the business climate, any report on his personal riches could send out the wrong signals. "You have to be careful these days," were his parting words.
This entrepreneur makes profits from second-hand products!
If you've ever considered buying a second-hand smart phone or plasma TV, you've probably experienced the following pain points -- there's no way to tell whether the gadget is in good shape; there's no telling whether you've been gypped on its price; and you need to visit the seller to take delivery of your product. These were the questions that confronted 36-year-old Ram Nutakki when he wanted to buy a used smart phone in mid-2012. "I realised that to buy a phone at half the original price, I had to meet three or four people and invest a lot of time and effort to find what I wanted.
For Attero Electronics Asset Management Company, waste is valuable. Within a short period, the company has earned acclaim from the likes of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in the US for its unique method of extracting gold, silver and nickel from electronic waste.
The Quick Estimates of Index of Industrial Production, the lead indicator of industrial production trends in the registered factory sector, for the month of August 2013, were released by the Govt. of India. The General Index is 0.6% higher as compared to the level in the month of August 2012.
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:
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
An Interactive Discussion was held at FISME office on 29th October 2013 to discuss what MSMEs expect from the next government as well as the critical issues confronting MSMEs with office bearers of select associations. The meeting was attended by senior office bearers of Gurgaon Industries associations, Electric Lamp and Component Manufacturers’ Association, Indian Plastic Manufacturers’ Association etc. besides the members of Central Executive Committee of FISME. At the meeting crucial bottlenecks in the growth of the MSME sector in the areas of Finance, Taxation, and Infrastructure, Power, Marketing and unequal competition were discussed and suggestions for overcoming them were made.
Indian SMEs need to look at Mexico- a member of NAFTA, as a gateway to access one of world’s largest markets: US and Canada. It is said that, for US importers Mexico is like having China next door. During a dialogue with FISME’s office bearers and executive committee members on 29th Oct 2013, Ms. Juana Nunez Campos from the Economic affairs section of Embassy of Mexico informed that India-Mexico bilateral trade would soon cross US$ 10 bn. Mexico is the leader in Latin America with trade volume of US$ 741 bn dollars in 2012, much larger than Brazil's trade US$ 408 bn.
FISME’s China office has become operational in Shanghai. While FISME had a presence in Beijing earlier with ICEC, the decision to shift FISME’s chapter to Shanghai was taken because of rising needs of members for support in matters related to trade and commerce. Located in Pudong area of Shanghai, the office will help Indian MSMEs in identification of buyers and suppliers, coordinate industrial/ factory visits, pre-shipment and quality inspections. It will coordinate inbound and outbound trade delegations for Indian and Chinese chambers and associations.
Educators spend too much time regaling students with tales from the trenches and not enough time providing clear directions, says Mr. Aulet, who worked for more than a decade at International Business Machines Corp. before launching a series of startups, including 3-D imaging company SensAble Technologies Inc. He takes a different approach when teaching entrepreneurs. In his new book, "Disciplined Entrepreneurship," he details 24 steps to create a successful startup—from selecting a market to calculating customer acquisition costs. He admits that many of the individual steps aren't revolutionary, but says that by establishing them around themes such as how a customer can get your product and how you actually make money off the product, aspiring entrepreneurs can have some semblance of a road map.
Along expected lines, the Reserve Bank of India Governor hiked the repo rate by 25 basis points in the October monetary policy review today.
The repo rate is now at 7.75 per cent. He had also raised it by 25 bps in the mid-quarter review in September.
Repo rate is the rate at which banks borrow short term funds from RBI.
Inflation has been on the upswing during the past few months. Wholesale price index (WPI) inflation touched 6.46 per cent in September while consumer price index inflation was at 9.84 per cent. Both these measures have been way beyond the comfort level of the RBI.
Slowdown is resulting in consumers using less plastic money. Credit card dues for the banking sector grew 2.1 per cent year-on-year in September from 21.8 per cent a year ago, showed Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data released on Friday.
"During the first half of this financial year, jewellery, consumer goods and travel have not grown significantly. These are where credit card usage is high. Because of the depreciation of the rupee, many postponed or cancelled travel abroad. Also, the incremental spends on garments, mobile phones and other consumer goods have been low in the first six months. RBI came down heavily on jewellers.
The Reserve Bank of India has scaled down the growth forecast for the current fiscal to 5 per cent from the earlier projection of 5.5 per cent, citing downside risk stemming from domestic constraints.
“ ... headwinds to growth from domestic constraints continue to pose downside risks, and vulnerabilities to sudden shifts in the external environment remain,” RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan today said in the second quarter review of monetary policy.
RBI had projected 5.5 per cent growth for 2013-14 in its first quarter monetary policy on July 30.The economy grew 4.4 per cent in the first (April-June) quarter of the current fiscal. It had expanded by 5 per cent in 2012-13 fiscal, the lowest level in a decade.
India slipped further to 134th rank from 132nd in terms of ease of doing business index, according to World Bank report, coming in behind its neighbours Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and China.
While Pakistan ranked 110, Nepal was 105, China 96 and Bangladesh 130, said the World Bank Report titled, ‘Doing Business 2014 - Understanding Regulations for Small and Medium-Size Enterprises.’ India, the report said, has made an improvement of 0.5 percentage points in what is called "the distance to frontier" measure with a range between 0 and 100, with 100 representing the best performance or the frontier.
India has produced close to 108 lakh bales of jute during the last fiscal, touching 2353 quintals per hectare. However, jute cultivation area has remained constant over the last few years at about 9 lakh hectares.
“India is leading jute goods producing country in the world, accounting for about 70 per cent of estimated world production,” said an official notification of the indigenous fibre which has occupied an important and integral part of the national economy in India.
Products made of the natural fibre include jute bags and diversified jute products which are in great demand around the world. It is also used for making burlap, sacking and carpet backing cloth.
As many as three Indian firms in the MSME sector will receive 4.2 million pounds sterling (Rs 42.38 crore) from the UK Department for International Development (DFID) for expansion of their businesses which are related directly or indirectly to the lives of poor people.
The companies receiving the UK Samridhi funds are Glocal Healthcare System (Rs 24.6 crore), Gramco Infratech (Rs 14.7 crore) and Shikhar Dairy (Rs 1.9 crore).
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today increased the benchmark lending rate by 0.25 percentage points but its governor, Raghuram Rajan assured the small and medium enterprises that they would be given more bank credit by reaching out to the poor and remote areas.
In the second quarter review of the Monitory Policy, the RBI balanced the increase in the repo lending rate by reducing the rate on Marginal Standing Facility (MSF), at which most of the banks borrow.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram today asked public sector banks to adequately meet credit requirements of the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
There has been widespread demand from the industry, from the government and the Reserve Bank of India that the MSME sector should be given a special dispensation. Finance Minister P Chidambaram today asked public sector banks to adequately meet credit requirements of the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
There has been widespread demand from the industry, from the government and the Reserve Bank of India that the MSME sector should be given a special dispensation.
The Reserve Bank of India has advised banks to provide collateral free loans to micro and small enterprises with credit limits upto Rs one million to ensure their growth and development.
“As availability of timely and adequate bank credit without the hassles of collateral and third party guarantees is of essence to small first generation entrepreneurs, the Reserve Bank of India had enjoined upon banks to provide collateral free loans to Micro and Small enterprises with credit limits up to Rs.1 million,” said Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India, K C Chakrabarty said in a recent address here.
A sharp rise of about 40 per cent in prices of firecrackers has led to a steep decline in sales from production centres like Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu and wholesale markets in major cities including the national capital, hitting in the process small and medium businesses.
The firecracker industry which is mostly in the SME segment is facing the double whammy of inflation and demand slowdown.
At a time when the government decides to infuse Rs 14,000 crore equity capital to public sector banks and pumps in crores to bailout corporate giants, Indian MSMEs, considered to be the country’s financial backbone, continue to fight for survival.
It’s definitely ironical, more so when it’s the public sector undertakings that owe huge amounts of money to SMEs.
According to the balance-sheet disclosures of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), the state-run power equipment manufacturer, it has total outstandings of Rs 503.30 crore in the 2012-13 financial year and Rs 554.33 crore the previous year.
The BSE-SME Platform which was launched in March this year would soon have 50 companies listed on the exchange for the small and medium enterprises while additional norms for listing have been introduced.
As many as 38 companies have already been listed on the exchange with the Ahmedabad-based VCU Data Management, engaged in development of mobile application system becoming the latest.
The VCU Data Management has successfully completed its public issue…” the BSE said in a release.
The Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises (FSME) in Andhra Pradesh has urged the state government and the Reserve Bank of India to save the business units, which are dying due to severe power cuts hampering production, reports Business Line. According to RBI data, around 6500 units in the state have become sick from last April to June. A.P.K. Reddy, President of FSME said, “Total non-performing assets in MSE sector stood at Rs 3,025 crore as on June 2013 as compared with Rs 2,589 crore as on March, 2013.”
The MSME Technology Centre that is coming up in Rohtak, Haryana at a cost of Rs 125 crore will benefit more than 4500 micro, small and medium units.
“After setting up of MSME Technology Centre at Rohtak more than 4500 MSME units manufacturing Auto components, General Engineering /Fasteners etc will get advantage in developing world class dies, tools, moulds, jigs, fixtures in addition to testing facilities and trained technical manpower,” MSME Minister K H Muniyappa said while laying the foundation stone yesterday for the project on a 19.8-acre property provided by the Haryana state government free of cost.
In a bid to revive the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) of Odisha, badly affected by October 12 cyclone Phailin and consequent floods, apex industry body of the state the Utkal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UCCI) has requested the state government to grant a special package for the sector, reports Business Standard.
We request you to kindly advice the MSME department to make a study on the massive damage caused to the MSME units and bring out a proper package for their early rehabilitation. The hotel industries have also suffered a lot. SIDBI should be asked to sanction interest free loan to the affected industries on war footing and some kind of government grant may be extended to these units," Debabrata Dash, secretary, UCCI wrote to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Uttarakhand Tourism that was hit by floods in June is taking steps to invest in infrastructure and develop its tourist destinations, in particular the Naukuchiatal Lake.
Having received a loan from the Asian Development Bank, the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board (UTDB) is now keen to procure goods such as commodities, raw material, machinery and equipment and related services such as insurance, installation, training and maintenance for the project.
India and China have agreed to facilitate setting up of a Chinese industrial park in India for promoting mutual investment.
“Premier Li was receptive to my concern about the unsustainable trade imbalance between our two countries and we have agreed to explore avenues to bridge this gap. We are taking forward the suggestion made by Premier Li in New Delhi for a Chinese industrial park to act as a magnet for Chinese investment in India,” said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in a statement.
In an effort to enhance small and medium enterprises (SMEs), the Chinese government has simplified its corporate registration system to ease market access and at the same time encourage social investment.
The government’s decision will play a key role in providing opportunities for business start-ups in the country. As per the new policy, the government will scrap minimum registered capital requirements for limited liability companies, one-person limited liability companies, as well as joint-stock companies with limited liability, said a Xinhua report.
The proposed highway covering India, Myanmar and Thailand will enhance trade of pulses and timber among these countries and the overall level of commercial engagement among them.
Addressing at CII function here today, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said the highway is expected to be operational soon. It is expected to help in smoother and faster movement of goods in this region.
In a joint venture to boost the steel industry, Indian delegates are currently on a visit to Poland to strengthen ties between the two countries in the areas of steel making and coal mining.
The delegation led by the Minister of Steel, Beni Prasad Verma met the Deputy Prime Minister Republic of Poland, Janusz Piechocinski, who is also the Economic Minister at Warsaw yesterday.
On the purpose of the visit, Verma said that Polish mining companies had the technical knowhow of developing and operating deep-coal mines. He emphasized the need to develop coking coal mines in India with sustainable and environmentally friendly and clean coal technologies.
According to the FISME Factor, 71 per cent of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), think that this festive season had influenced their order book negatively main reason being economic slowdown and high inflation.
This is a scenario every business owner is faced with: you've done everything you can to hire people who were the best possible fit in your start-up. But, sooner or later, you realise that an employee is under-performing and is a liability rather than an asset. You instinctively decide to let them go. But wait up! That could be a blotch on the reputation of your young enterprise. So what are your options?
The general perception that women are shopaholics who love to spend and very bad investors could very well be a thing of the past with more and more women taking responsibility for their earnings and investment. This is critical nowadays, where single incomes are no match for a bloating inflation!
Would a fast food joint in Pune attract crowds from Nagpur? Likewise, it would be a colossal waste of money for a tattoo artist to advertise at a public park frequented by septuagenarians. And that, precisely, is the downfall of mass advertising. To get the best mileage out of ad spends, brands are now making sure they reach the right target audience. Enter, targeted marketing.
A growing number of businessmen find themselves under the lens. Are they being persecuted by an unfriendly government or is it the unravelling of crony capitalism?
Mr S has an enviable art collection in his spacious New Delhi home: works by MF Husain, Satish Gujral and Manjit Bawa. Though not known to be publicity-averse and a regular in lifestyle glossies, he recently turned down a request from Business Standard Weekend to review his collection. He was candid enough to admit that he is currently dealing with a regulator, and given the business climate, any report on his personal riches could send out the wrong signals. "You have to be careful these days," were his parting words.
If you've ever considered buying a second-hand smart phone or plasma TV, you've probably experienced the following pain points -- there's no way to tell whether the gadget is in good shape; there's no telling whether you've been gypped on its price; and you need to visit the seller to take delivery of your product. These were the questions that confronted 36-year-old Ram Nutakki when he wanted to buy a used smart phone in mid-2012. "I realised that to buy a phone at half the original price, I had to meet three or four people and invest a lot of time and effort to find what I wanted.
" We treat our people like royalty. If you honor and serve the people who work for you, they will honour and serve you. " 
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