By Our Correspondent
CHENNAI/BHUBANESWAR: Naveen Jindal, Chairman of JSPL, highlighted the importance of strengthening the sector and noted that more than 10 crore Indians are involved in MSMEs. In his 2019 Budget speech, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said that the Government aimed to take this number to 15 crore in five years. JSPL Chairman Jindal said that the government is essential in this aspect, where its support can help MSMEs play a vital role in creating jobs. Noting that financing is a major problem for the sector, he said that this support could take the form of bank loans at cheaper interest rates. If they are attached to formal financial institutions, it can help them do business without thinking about funds.The former 2 times Lok Sabha MP Jindal, who heads the JSPL Group, was speaking at a webinar on MSMEs hosted by E-Cell, IIT Madras.
Launching this initiative, Karil Garg & Hanushavardhini S, Heads of the E-Cell Marketing & PR Team, said that the campaign was at its heart a collective effort. ‘The vision of PANKH is to build a more sustainable and efficient MSME ecosystem in India. They try to achieve this goal through our various initiatives and events in the coming months.’
The campaign opened with a discussion with panelists Sudhir Garg and Naveen Jindal, hosted on Youtube Live. The moderator of the panel discussion was Dr.Santosh Kumar Sahu, Professor in Department of Humanities & Social Sciences. Sudhir Garg, Joint Secretary, Ministry of MSMEs said that MSMEs must think out of the box to help attract customers. While they follow a general business cycle to earn profits, they must collaborate and share resources if they hope to scale up quickly and retain presence in the market.
He noted important steps that the Government is taking towards boosting MSMEs, including a plan to invest ₹ 9000 Crore in technological manufacturing of materials for MSMEs and the launch of a dedicated website, ‘champions.gov.in’ as a one stop channel to find different government schemes that can be helpful to them.Both appreciated the campaign, calling it a great initiative by E-Cell, IIT Madras. Garg said it was very good to see E-Cell take a step ahead to promote MSMEs. Jindal agreed, noting that these types of events can help MSMEs avail good mentoring and business models.
E-Cell, IIT Madras is one of India’s most successful student-run organizations, and aims to inculcate entrepreneurial spirit amongst India’s youth. Powered by the principle that entrepreneurship will drive India’s socio-economic development, E-Cell has held pan-India Hackathons, Intern Fairs, B-Planning Competitions along with its flagship E-Summit. Prior campaigns have included E-21 in 2018, to promote entrepreneurial skills in schools, & D-Well on leveraging digital media to enhance businesses, in 2019 and amidst this pandemic E-Cell has conducted events like ‘Inspirit’, ‘Plandemic’ etc.Pankh will focus on enabling growth for the Indian MSME ecosystem and empowering MSMEs to build sustainable business models. The campaign will attempt to highlight and resolve sector-specific challenges while engaging the Indian youth, informed Vibhor Jain, Marketing and PR Manager, Entrepreneurship Cell, IIT Madras.
