Global technology corporations including Whatsapp, Dell, Intel, HP, Vodafone Idea has partnered with industry body CII and Ministry of MSME along with banking partner YES Bank to facilitate India’s MSMEs with technology adoption and handhold them in its deployment at multiple industrial clusters across the country. The partnership is part of CII’s TechSaksham project launched last week by MSME minister Nitin Gadkari. The project aims to help more than 10,000 MSMEs with technology usage even as it looks to impact over 5 lakh MSMEs through its various e-learning modules.
“MSMEs don’t understand digital marketing much. These technology companies can help MSMEs in marketing their product online efficiently. Another area is of lack of technology usage in meeting necessary regulatory compliance rules as MSMEs perceive investment in technology to be high. Technology firms can help mitigate that by enabling MSMEs with cloud usage. Once the confidence is built among small businesses with regard to the safety of data and ease of use, they will migrate to the digital system,” P. Nandkumar, Chairman – Western Region, CII told Financial Express Online.
The project TechSaksham would help MSMEs in increasing their competitiveness on a global scale, according to the MSME ministry even as it would boost their share in national exports and leverage cost efficiencies. The three-year project in the first phase will focus on sectors that “are labour-intensive and have the propensity to respond positively to tech-adoption, and will spark a larger discussion in other MSME clusters,” the ministry added. It would help small businesses via various policy recommendations, knowledge sessions, mentoring initiatives etc.
Capacity development training and handholding workshops along with awareness on technology solutions including internet of things, cloud computing, CRM solutions etc., are the direct benefits that would accrue to MSMEs, Shreekant Somany, Chairman, CII National MSME Council & CII Project TechSaksham emphasized in a statement.
“Millions of micro and small enterprises in India use WhatsApp as their primary application to communicate with their customers, and we are committed to investing in and helping the small business community of this country grow,” said Abhijit Bose, Head of India of WhatsApp.
Indian MSME sector comprises around 63.4 million units and contributes around 6.11 per cent of the manufacturing GDP and 24.63 per cent of the GDP from service activities. The sector accounts for 33.4 per cent of the country’s manufacturing output and provides employment to around 120 million people, according to CII. In terms of exports, the MSMEs contribution stands at around 45 per cent of the overall exports.
