India SME Knowledge Forum

Initiated By

About Forum

Indian SME Knowledge Forum is specifically set up to take collective advantage of the knowledge, experience and expertise of luminaries from Corporate, Technocrats, Regulating Authorities, Banks and Financial Institutions, Knowledge providing Institutions, Industry Associations, Trade Organisations, Management and Legal Consultants, R & D Centres and Others Government Departments concerned for the development of SME sector. The Forum will provide relevant information and knowledge to the entrepreneurs as to how to adopt technology, tackle business problems, use the information from all over the world for growth, obtain banking finance, dealing with government departments, public sector undertakings, multinational companies and regulating authorities. With effective interaction with the committee members, the entrepreneurs can express their concern and difficulties with the view to identify solutions.

Mr. Chandrakant Salunkhe with his vast experience and interaction with the SME Sector in India and other countries, observed that even though SMEs make good progress in manufacturing and service sectors, many of them are not aware of the several schemes, incentives of both the Central and the State Governments, products and services of Banks and Financial Institutions, information about the latest technologies and innovative methods and other business related issues. Hence he felt an urgent need to equip the Indian SMEs with enhanced knowledge and updated information about various business opportunities available in India and abroad for their sustenance and growth.

SME Chamber of India and IITC-INDIA have initiated its division - “Indian SME Knowledge Forum” and officially launched at the hands of Mr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia - Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission of India, during the “7th Global SME Partnership Summit” held on 21st February, 2009 at Mumbai organised by the SME Chamber of India and IITC-INDIA with the support of Ministry of Commerce and Industry and Ministry of MSME, Government of India and Government of Maharashtra.

In picture (from left to right) Mr. Nanasaheb B. Patil, IAS - Principal Secretary, Agriculture & Horticulture, Government of Maharashtra, Mr. Chandrakant Salunkhe - Founder & President, SME Chamber of India & IITC- INDIA, Mr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia - Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission of India, Mr. Tamer Taskin – President, Aegean Region Chamber of Industry (EBSO), Izmir, TURKEY, Mr. Anthony J. C. De Sa, IAS - Director, UNIDO Centre for South – South Industrial Cooperation, Mr. Joseph Massey - MD & CEO, MCX, Mr. A. Rameshkumar - Chairman, SME Chamber of India (Northern Region) and MD & CEO, Zwirn Pragati Capfin Pvt. Ltd. and Mr. N. C. Vasudevan, IAS - Director General, National Productivity Council, Government of India, New Delhi.

Indian SME knowledge Forum is a private organisation and does not have any affiliations or associations with any Government or Semi Government Agencies. This is a division of SME Chamber of India and India International Trade Centre (IITC-INDIA).

About SME

Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) sector has emerged as a very important sector of the Indian economy, contributing significantly to employment generation, innovation, exports, and inclusive growth of the economy. Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) are the backbone of the socio-economic development of our country. It also accounts for 45 % of total industrial production, 40% of total exports and contributes very significantly to the GDP. Manufacturing segment within the MSME contributes to 7.09% of GDP. MSMEs also contribute to 30.50% of services. The total contribution of MSMEs to the GDP is 37.54.

The MSMED Act, 2006, was enacted to provide enabling policy environment for promotion and development of the sector by way of defining MSMEs, putting in place a framework for developing and enhancing competitiveness of the MSME enterprises, ensuring flow of credit to the sector and paving the way for preference in Government procurement to products and services of the MSEs, address the issue of delayed payments, etc. It is expected that the new law will be able to address the major challenges, relating to physical infrastructural bottlenecks, absence of formalisation, technology adoption, capacity building, backward and forward linkages, lack of access to credit, risk capital, perennial problem of delayed payments, etc. These problems are hindering the development of a conducive business environment for expansion of the sector. The Ministry of MSME noted that a thriving entrepreneurial eco-system is a policy imperative for realizing the potential of the sector and ensuring sustainable growth of the sector.

Global trends in classifying the MSMEs show that it widely differs across jurisdictions and depends upon the government policies of the country. Though, a comparison of some of the countries revealed that most of them are using number of employees as a variable to define MSMEs, in India, MSMEs are presently defined based on investment in plant and machinery / equipment. To facilitate ease of doing business, the Government has introduced the new criteria from 1st July 2020 for classification of micro, small and medium enterprises turnover based, which will be useful for MSMEs.

Revised Classification applicable w.e.f 1st July 2020

Classification of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) sector
Composite Criteria Investment in Plant & Machinery/equipment and Annual Turnover
Classification	Micro	Small	Medium
Manufacturing and Service Sector Enterprises	Investment in Plant and Machinery or Equipment upto Rs.1 crore and Annual Turnover does not exceed Rs. 5 crore	Investment in Plant and Machinery or Equipment upto Rs.10 crore and Annual Turnover does not exceed Rs. 50 crore	Investment in Plant and Machinery or Equipment upto Rs.50 crore and Annual Turnover does not exceed Rs. 250 crore

Objectives

To create a 'Think Tank' comprising of eminent personalities from different fields.
To identify opportunities, issues and problems.
To collect necessary information and deliberate on them with a view to find appropriate solutions.
To provide a platform to the SMEs to project their issues before the relevant Departments and Committees.
To keep track of the developments in India and abroad.
To educate existing and prospective SMEs / Entrepreneurs for success and survival in competitive world market.

Activities

The Advisory Board will meet quarterly or as required to understand the problems and issues of the SMEs
To set up Separate Committees and Study Groups to address the issues of SMEs related to Government Departments and suggest remedial measures.
To analyze the potentials of SMEs for the Nation's economic and industrial growth.
To interact with the senior executives of Banks & Financial Institutions and Government Authorities for enhancing timely lending to the SMEs at the prescribed percentage level.
To establish contacts with the similar Indian or overseas Forums for mutual interaction & co-ordination.
To organise meetings with the concerned Ministries to understand new schemes, incentives and other supports available or applicable to the MSMEs.
To Encourage formation of clusters in various parts of the country.
To arrange Seminars, Workshops, Training Programmes, Conferences and deliberations.
To provide information on new technology, new projects, financial assistance, joint ventures, technology transfers and contact manufacturing.
To create awareness about intellectual property rights of SME to protect their innovations and ideas.
To encourage SMEs to adopt good governance and business ethics to create confidence amongst the stake holders and also to enter into international cooperation.
To publish newsletters for disseminating useful information periodically.