Issues concerning MSMEs

From left to right: Dipankar Dasgupta, Professor of Economics (Retd.), Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi & Kolkata; Gautam Ray, Vice President, FOSMI; Shubhendu Bhattacharya, Convenor, West Bengal Iron & Steel Manufacturers’ Association; Deb Kumar Basu, Member, MSME Committee, BCC&I, & Director, Zetadel Technologies, at Business Standard Smart Business in Kolkata on 20th November 2014, in association with FOSMI, West Bengal.
Business Standard, in association with the Federation of Small & Medium Industries (FOSMI) Kolkata Chapter, organised a panel discussion on issues concerning MSMEs in Kolkata under the umbrella of Business Standard Smart Business.

The micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector is a major support for our economy. It accounts for about 48% of the manufacturing output and 40% of our exports. Despite that, the road to growth and prosperity for MSMEs is anything but smooth.
Survival has become a burning issue for MSMEs, with problems like technological obsolescence, supply chain inefficiencies, fund shortages, sub-optimal scale of operation, increasing domestic and global competition, change in manufacturing strategies and a turbulent and uncertain market scenario.
A key point that emerged through the course of discussion was that MSMEs in West Bengal suffered from the lack of presence of large industries in the state.

“One of the main problems facing the industry is lack of infrastructure and that includes power, roads, warehousing, water supply, et al,” said Subhendu Bhattacharya, convenor, West Bengal Iron and Steel Manufacturers' Association.

Deb Kumar Basu, member, MSME Development and Manufacturing Committee, BCC&I, and director, Zetadel Technologies, said that MSMEs in West Bengal acutely suffer from limited resources  and do not have the ability to withstand external shocks. "We hope that the Centre and state government will come out in support of the MSME sector," Basu said, optimistically. He also reiterated the need for big industries.
It was also a difficult task for MSMEs to get bank finance according to their requirement, said Gautam Ray, VP, FOSMI. He pointed out that the problem areas with banks were the delay in sanctioning the loan, coupled with the collateral security.

Dipankar Dasgupta, former professor of Indian Statistical Institute, felt that MSMEs should look to tap the less capital-intensive services sector. “MSMEs should emphasise in a big way on the products in which they have an expertise and competitive advantage so that they can dominate the market.  These could be specialised services,” Dasgupta said.