core sector communique

 MSMEs : Catalyst for Growth’ organised at Merchants’ Chamber of Commerce

In a Seminar on ‘MSMEs : Catalyst for Growth’ organised at Merchants’ Chamber of Commerce, Dr. Manas Ranjan Bhunia, Hon’ble Minister of Micro & SSEs, Textiles, Irrigation & Waterways, Govt. of West Bengal, highlighted on Bengal’s privileged position in the MSME sector of the country.  He mentioned that West Bengal has the second largest number of MSME units in the country employing around 60 lacs people and acts as a catalyst for ensuring inclusive growth. In this context Dr. Bhunia observed that there are immense potential for growth in areas like hosiery, medicinal plants, ayurveda, jute etc. He lamented that these sectors have tremendous growth in West and South India but neglected in our state and the new Govt. would give full support for the development of these sectors. He felt that Bengal lags behind other parts of the country in getting investments in powerloom and handloom sectors which have huge opportunity to develop.

            The Hon’ble Minister said that Govt. of India has committed to come up with more finance to upgrade the sector in the country. The State Govt. has decided to interact with the Directorates of Textiles, Handlooms and Handicrafts, MSME Institute and other organisations for improving the competitiveness of this sector. Appreciating the recent initiatives of the Bombay Stock Exchange for creating an exclusive stock exchange for the SMEs, he invited suggestions to incorporate MSMEs in  the Calcutta Stock Exchange too. He said that a committee is to be set up to rejuvenate the textile sector and the textile policy would be put in place very soon. Since low Credit-Deposit-Ratio is a matter of concern, the he insisted on a more liberal approach by banks for financing the sector.

Shri Sudesh Sonthalia, President, Merchants’ Chamber of Commerce said that MSMEs need to find their own ways and means to overcome the real barriers which seem to be lack of motivation to upgrade their capabilities, weak linkages between technology providers and users, reluctance to enter into sub-contracting with larger companies in India etc. The Seminar was jointly organised by MCC, ICSI, BSE and CDSCI.