IITs, IIMs to help SMEs improve managerial skills

NEW DELHI, INDIA: The National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council (NMCC) is working on a mechanism that would enable experts from top educational institutes to help micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) improve their managerial skills and unleash innovations.

"We are trying to work out a mechanism to enable experts from top academic institutions such as IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology), IIMs (Indian Institute of Management) help Indian MSMEs become more competitive through improvement of their managerial skills, development of better quality products and become more innovative," said Ajay Shankar, member secretary, NMCC.

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Shankar was inaugurating the Intellectual Property Facilitation Centre (IPFC) which will help micro, small and medium enterprises protect their innovations, inventions and designs through patents and copyrights.

The centre has been established by the Federation of Indian Micro and Small and Medium Enterprises (FISME) as part of the mandate given to it by the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises under the National Competitiveness Programme.

This is the third such centre established by FISME after those already operational in Bangalore and Hyderabad.

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"The IPFCs being established by FISME will not only offer the services mandated by the Ministry of MSME such as registration of patents, trademarks etc. but also a few additional services such as IP audit, IP management systems and an IP exchange in a bid to offer a complete business model for MSMEs," said V.K. Agarwal, president, FISME.

Shankar said innovation and better IP management of MSMEs was critical for the National Manufacturing Policy to succeed leading to an increase in the share of manufacturing in India's GDP and creation of additional jobs.