India is an important market
place worldwide. If you look at
the strongest developing
economies, India is right up there
with China. It has a huge population,
which is growing and educated.
I would like to highlight the
role of micro, small and medium
enterprises (MSMEs) which constitute
an important segment of
the Indian economy in terms of
their contribution to industrial
production, exports,
employment and creation
of entrepreneurship base.
The Government of
India has always taken
active interest in supplementing
the efforts of the
state government. The
future of MSME is of major policy
concern given its strategic
importance in any discussion of
reshaping the industrial sector.
The MSMEs play a pivotal role in
the overall industrial economy. It
is estimated that it terms of value,
the sector accounts for about 45
per cent of manufacturing output
and over 40 per cent of total
exports of the country.
Further, the MSME sector has
consistently registered higher
growth rate compared to the
overall industrial sector. The
major advantage of the sector is
its employment potential at low
capital cost. As per the 4th all
India census of MSMEs, this sector
employs an estimated 60 million
persons spread over 26 million
enterprises.
Among the economic factors, a
few important ones are as follows:
- The new feature of internet and
communication technologies is
that they enable a much smaller
scale of efficient production,
compared to earlier technologies.
- Minimisation of risk, a new line
is open on a small scale.
- Market imperfections, due
either to consumer resistance or
to transport cost, also limiting
the size of market.
- Where the material to be
worked upon is not uniform,
where the processes are
not amenable to quick
repetitions, and where
the products are not standardised,
large scale
methods are not suitable
or economical; hence
small industry thrives on
its own strength.
- The small sector plays an
important part in the innovation
process. For example, in
recent years, about 10 per cent
of all patents registered in
India have come from the
small-scale sector.
ABN Enterprise, the Kolkata based
consultancy firm with
expertise in concrete products,
is willing to assist entrepreneurs
to set up their projects and
develop their businesses with
down-to-earth approach and
also provide marketing support.
The company presumes there is
a vast scope for concrete products
in the construction sector.
ABN Enterprise is one of the
project consultants in ecofriendly
products, willing to
work with MSME jointly.
(T.K. Dutta is Consultant - Project
& Marketing, ABN Enterprise,
Kolkata)