"the MSME sector in India has shown great resilience in the recent past despite the turbulent times globally and in India," said Ganapathi, Senior Vice President, Southern India Chamber of Commerce
The Growth leadership conclave and Awards 2018—from SMEs to Unicorns got off to a start in Chennai a short while ago. In the inaugural session, speakers dwelt on the need for constant reinvention by SMEs in the face of disruption.
In his address, Ravichandran Purushothaman, President of Danfoss stressed the need for people to take a risk and not have fear about failure. It is the lack of fear of failure that leads to success, he said. As a company, Danfoss was relentless in delivering cash flows and bottom line, added Purushothaman. And if an idea cannot be converted into a prototype within six months, then it is of no use in the current environment. Purushothaman said gone are the days when R&D projects went on for 25 years.
In his talk, Ganapathi, senior vice president Southern India Chamber of Commerce said MSMEs, the growth drivers is a proven fact world over. He said the MSME sector in India has shown great resilience in the recent past despite the turbulent times globally and in India.
Mr. Ganapathi said that 45% of the gross value of output of the manufacturing sector in India is accounted by the MSMEs. In case of exports, the sector’s contribution stands at 40% while Indian MSMEs account for 40% in value added in manufacturing.
But he added the nation’s MSME sector needs to improve its quality as India does not have a high ranking in the global MSME index.
General secretary of TANTSIA and proprietor of Power Grid, CK Mohan listed out the problems faced by the MSME sector in his presentation. On the infrastructure front, the high cost of buildings reduced the profitability of companies. Delay in payments are another growth to the hindrance of such concerns, added Mohan. Funding also continues to remain a challenge as banks insist on collaterals at every growth stage. Timely funding is the need of the hour and banks are not funding at the right time, said Mohan. The proprietary nature and lack of professionalism and second rung in MSMEs continues to remain a challenge.
The session concluded with Archibald Serrao, business manager of Oracle Net Suite dwelt on the advantages of Net Suite and how this software could help SMEs as they move on to the next level.
