India's atmosphere is conducive

 According to Jamkhandi, India's atmosphere is very conducive for any business to grow. “Our market is so huge that any enterprise can flourish and make profits. They do not even have to think of exporting their products, as they can sell their products here itself.”

Currently, there are more than 23 million registered SMEs in the country and the number of non-registered SMEs is reportedly double the official figure. These SMEs manufacture a slew of items – right from safety pins to highly sophisticated tools for space programmes.

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“The markets are wide open across the world. In such a situation, SMEs need to be highly competitive in order to survive in the market. If they do not innovate, they are going to suffer both in the domestic as well as international markets,” said Jamkhandi.

He informed that in order to make the existing SMEs more competent, the government has launched various programmes for innovating and redesigning. It also provides barcode training and helps them get an international product certification.

“The government has introduced a wonderful scheme called National Manufacturing Competitiveness Programme (NMCP). It was evolved keeping in mind that SMEs need financial support in every stage of their growth,” he said.

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The scheme also offers financial assistance to SMEs to purchase higher-end technology to reduce their wastage.

“We provide financial assistance to new ideas. It may be product management or design management. The ministry has set up incubation centres in various institutions and universities, where SMEs can go and incubate their ideas. They are eligible for up to Rs.. 6.5 lakh per idea post-production,” explained Jamkhandi.