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Entrepreneurs urged to take government aid

PUDUCHERRY: Additional Secretary to Government and Managing Director of the Pondicherry Industrial Promotion Development and Investment Corporation B.R. Babu has urged more entrepreneurs to take financial assistance from the government to set up Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). He was speaking at a seminar on ‘SMEs – Managing for Growth’ organised by the Madras Management Association (MMA), The Insittute of Internal Auditors (IIA) and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation here on Saturday.

Mr. Babu said that PIPDIC, which is responsible for financing, infrastructure, investment and promotion of SMEs in Puducherry, has spent around Rs. 300 crore over the last 25 years on around 3,000 entrepreneurs.

While acknowledging that attaining growth in these days of increasing awareness and assertiveness of customers is challenging, Mr. Babu said SMEs need to adopt a new, proactive approach and look beyond traditional funding.

“In these times of recession, entrepreneurs are hesitating to take the plunge into setting up an enterprise. Such seminars will help to boost their confidence,” he said.

Describing SMEs as the drivers of the Indian economy, the General Manager of Internal Audit, Sundaram Finance and president of the Madras Chapter of IIA – India, H. Venkatesan, observed that SMEs set up in rural areas have a significant bottom-line impact. While outlining some of the achievements of SMEs, Mr. Venkatesan also pointed out some of the challenges faced by them, such as limited reach, inadequate planning, succession planning and lack of awareness on latest market strategies.

“Performance appraisal is the key to competitiveness. It is the only way performance can be measured, and lead to improvement,” he said, while insisting on the need to conduct internal audits within the enterprise to identify risks and add value.

Chairman of the MMA Board for chapters C. Siva Kumar stressed on looking at growth from a larger perspective, using indicators such as customer satisfaction, brand development and corporate social responsibility.

Harnessing strengths of people in the enterprise is essential for its success, he added.

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