WTC Mumbai to promote SMEs

World Trade Centre, Mumbai, has said that it would organise many events to promote growth of small and medium enterprises.

SMEs are responsible for 80 per cent of job creation in the country vis-à-vis 50 per cent in the US and 79 per cent in China, according to AO Kuruvilla, Advisor, WTC Mumbai.

He said this while speaking at the Make in India series on Microfinance: A Game Changer for Financial Inclusion held here by WTC Mumbai in association with WTC Goa and International Centre Goa.

The WTC Goa will focus on promoting and supporting Goan micro, small and medium enterprises sector in a big way.

“WTC Goa was established with the aim to promote the Goan MSME sector owing to its crucial role in the country’s GDP, employment generation, etc., and provide an international platform to the local businesses to widen their scope," said Kuruvilla.

Jaiksish, General Manager, Reserve Bank of India, Goa, said that microfinance reaches less than 5 per cent of potential clients. He said that nearly 87 per cent of India’s poor cannot access credit from a formal source and, hence, approach other sources with higher interest rates, a fact which is supported by the World Bank report.

He listed various deterrent factors like complex and time-consuming loan application procedures, delays in processing, record maintenance of the formal financial institutions and financial illiteracy that prevent the small customers from availing the benefits provided by the formal microfinance sector. He said banks need to handhold small customers, who otherwise look to MFIs, eventually leading to loss of a major chunk of business to the banks.

Jiji Mammen, CEO, MUDRA, mainly focused on the prime role played by 57 million microfinance units, of which less than 5 per cent get bank credit, and are the second largest employment creator to the level of 10 - 12 crores after agriculture sector.

Responding to a question regarding eligibility of an informtion technology company for the MUDRA yojana and availability of funds, he urged users to access the Stand Up Mitra portal for further guidelines.

Manguirish Pai Raiker, MSME Board member and Advisor, WTC Goa, revealed that India, the world’s fastest growing economy, is the 10th largest in terms of nominal GDP and third largest by PPP model.

He also responded to the question on MUDRA’s role in proliferating Goan MSME sector adding that last year around Rs 399.33 crore were sanctioned, out of which Rs.376.04 crore were disbursed to 45,471 applicants.

He also informed people that the inherent fact of time-consuming registration process for small units has now been reduced to a page using the Udhyog Aadhar portal accessible under the Make in India flagship brand.

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