Government to focus on MSME sector: Nitin Gadkari

Chennai: Nitin Gadkari, Minister for MSME, Road Transport and Highways, said that MSME is the backbone of the Indian economy and eradication of poverty is the biggest mission for the government.

Addressing the virtual session ‘Role of MSME’s in Atmanirbhar Bharat’ during FICCI’s 93rd Annual General Convention, Gadkari said that we aim to create employment and aid villages and small industries to grow. He also said that the government is taking a step towards recognising and facilitating rural entrepreneurs.

Sangita Reddy, Former President, FICCI highlighted that the disruptions caused by Covid-19, has given an opportunity for Indian MSMEs to integrate with the global value chains, a press release said.

As large companies continue to adopt new technologies of automation, AI, IoT and 3D Printing, we need to ensure that our MSMEs are not left behind and seamlessly integrate these technologies in their processes to compete globally, she added.

Harshpati Singhania, past president, FICCI, talked about the need to look at rural India with a completely new vision and link it with urban India to achieve the objective of Atmanirbhar Bharat.

“MSMEs contributes 30 per cent to India’s GDP, 48 per cent in export and till now, 11 crore jobs have been created by the MSME sector,” added Gadkari. To make India Atmanirbhar, the focus will be to increase the share of the manufacturing sector from 24-26 to 30 per cent of GDP.

Highlighting the special focus of the government of India on MSME sector, Gadkari stated that there is a plan to increase the total turnover of Indian rural industry to Rs two lakh crore from current Rs 80 thousand crores in the next two years.

Speaking about rural industries and Khadi Gram Udyog, he said that the government is focusing on rural industries along with socially and economically backward areas.
“We want to focus on rural industry for gaining and creating employment potential and growth which is a potential route to the eradication of poverty, is our mission,” he said.

The event also witnessed the launch of the FICCI ‘MSME Took Kit’ by Nitin Gadkari during the event. The MSME toolkit aims to become an online platform where aspiring and existing entrepreneurs could learn about business. The details would range from planning and selecting the right business to sustainable growth of the business. The information will be shared in form of DIY videos, webinars’ recordings, external links, in-house content, articles amongst others.