Top 7 Things The Ministry of MSME Has Done in 2016 To Help Startups and MSMEs in India

The Indian Government has recognized the MSMEs and startup space in a big manner in 2016! The Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley announced the INR 10, 000 crore Startup Fund all along launching many other sincere efforts. Largely, the year 2016 will be recorded as a landmark year in entrepreneurship and manufacturing as the Indian government has taken various necessary measures to provide a highest level of support for startups and MSMEs so that they can make their performance better and fruitful.

Here is a sneak peek into some major things done by the Ministry of MSME in 2016 for helping MSMEs & Startups in India.

1. Approval for Creation of ‘Indian Enterprise Development Service’ (IEDS)The Government approved the formation of ‘Indian Enterprise Development Service (IEDS)’ in the Office of Development Commissioner under the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).( http://msme.gov.in/ ) According to the information provided by the ministry, “The creation of the new cadre and change in structure will not only strengthen the organization but also help to achieve the vision of “Startup India”, “Stand-up India” and “Make in India” campaigns.” The measure will enhance the capacity and efficiency of the organization and help in achieving growth in MSME sector through a focused and dedicated cadre of technical officers.”
2. To start with this, a cadre will have strength of 617 officers out of which 6 will be at the level of joint secretaries. In addition, 72 field offices of the Development Commissioner will be opened which will be operated from headquarter located in Delhi. Out of these total 72 field offices, 30 are MSME development institutes and 28 branch institutes.
3. Establishment of MSME Technology Centre at Greater Noida under TCSP & National Vendor Development Programme
   The Ministry of MSME laid the foundation stone of a new MSME technology centre at Greater Noida. This centre is one of the 15 new Technology Centres that are being established by the Ministry across the country. This centre will work for the Electronics Systems Design & Manufacturing (ESDM) (https://esdm-skill.deity.gov.in/ ) and Automotive Electronics sector’s MSMEs to accomplish their technological and skilled manpower needs. The total estimated cost involved in the implementation of this programme is Rs. 2,200 crore that include US $ 200 million loan assistance from the World Bank. The Indian government would invest more than Rs.145 crore for developing machinery and civil infrastructure in the Technology Centre
4. 1. Launched National SC/ST Hub
      The Ministry of MSME has launched “National SC/ST Hub” in Ludhiana with an allocation of Rs. 490 crore as an initial amount for the period of 2016 to 2020. National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) (http://www.nsic.co.in/ ) Headquarters in Delhi would support primarily this Hub and contribute to strengthening market assessment, monitoring and leveraging financial support etc.
   2. MSME Databank and Finance Facilitation Launched
      Two new initiatives viz., MSME Databank Portal (http://www.msmedatabank.in ) and Online Finance Facilitation Web Portal (http://www.nsicffconline.in) has been launched by the Ministry of MSME this year. By launching Databank, the Ministry has made online Census of the MSMEs in the country for the first time.
      The databank is working as a one stop information source for all MSMEs of India. MSMEs can get all kind of information related to their requirements for technology, raw material, marketing and many other things. Most importantly, the government took a decision that no subsidy or grant will be given to any MSMEs if its information is not available on the MSME Databank.
      Besides, the online Finance Facilitation Centre has started working under the NSIC (http://www.nsic.co.in/ ) at Ludhiana, Guwahati, Lucknow, Delhi, Jalandhar and Peenya etc.
   3. Incubation cell at IIFT Delhi Launched
      To enable young entrepreneurs and startups to get all kind of expert advice and support, an incubation cell launched at IIFT Delhi. The centre is dedicated to offer hand holding support to those startups that are in the international business domain right from the ideation stage to ready to hit the foreign market. The cell works under the centre of MSME Studies at IIFT (Delhi) (http://msme.iift.ac.in/msme/VIC/index.htm ) and has started an initiative named as “KITTES” (Knowledge for Innovation in Trade & Technology for Entrepreneurial Start-ups). This initiative will be supported by an advisory committee consisting of industrialists, technical experts, venture capitalists and more who are ready to help other budding entrepreneurs realize their potential and dreams. They all will also contribute to establish necessary infrastructure for facilitating all other required measures and schemes for the development of export MSMEs in India.
   4. Reviewed MSMEProcurement Policy and Issued New Directions
      The Government has reviewed the Public Procurement Policy of all the Central Government Departments and Central Public Sectors. It was found that the share of MSME procurement is less than 10% against a mandatory 20% and that of SC/ST entrepreneurship share is less than 0.2% against a mandatory 4%. New directions was also issued all along to identify top 50 CPSUs and sensitized them toward meeting the requirement of Public Procurement Policy of MSMEs, which has already become binding from 1st April 2015 under the MSME Development Act 2015.
   5. Signed a MoU of Cooperation with Mauritius for helping MSMEs in both counties
      A joint committee meeting was concluded between India and Mauritius with the MoU signed for initiating joint efforts in both countries for the cooperation in MSMEs. The key areas discussed during this meeting covered finding potential areas for new business opportunities, promotion of skill development, marketing, setting up of business incubators, starting joint cluster initiatives, etc. In addition, Mauritius will also offer Biofarming Technology to India.
   Apart from these initiatives, the Government of India has also taken many other steps to ease the ways of doing business. The Ministry of MSME had issued a circular that allows Central PSUs to relax the norms of “prior experience & prior turnover” for all those MSMEs who can production the as per the set quality and technical norms. Several other announcements has done to boost the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious “Startup India” Programme and taking digital entrepreneurship at the grass-root level
   As other major initiatives, the Ministry of MSME organized events like” MSME EXPO 2016 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi” that offered an opportunity to a number of MSMEs to showcase their products and services for generating business and creating sustainable alliances.