A one-day conference on ‘Manufacturing excellence through Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME),’ organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), was inaugurated here on Friday.
K.Dhanavel, Principal Secretary of the State Government’s Department of MSME, who was the chief guest, said only if the MSMEs followed global trends they could survive in the market.
The total worth of the MSME sector in the State, which employed around 59 lakh people, was Rs.48,000 crore. The total worth of goods and services was Rs.18,500 crore. “The 10-point charter, which was recently announced by the Chief Minister to develop MSMEs will benefit the existing players and encourage more people to foray into entrepreneurship,” he said.
“We are planning to acquire 2,000 acres of land to set up more MSMEs, and 800 acres had been acquired so far. Thousand first-generation entrepreneurs will be identified, and for businesses worth Rs.1 crore and more, the government will offer a subsidy of Rs.25 lakh,” he added.
Collector L.Subramanian said the MSMEs in Madurai could grow by leaps and bounds if effective solutions were found to address the lack of technical expertise and skilled manpower.
“Agriculture-based industries should be promoted and provisions made to rope in women to work at the MSMEs. It must be ensured that employment opportunities were generated in rural areas,”he said.
Products from small industries could be showcased at the proposed convention centre in Madurai, he added.
Jayakumar Ramdass, a convenor of the MSME panel, which is a part of the Tamil Nadu CII, said the country’s MSMEs were the engines of manufacturing sector’s growth.
Another convenor, M.Anbukani, said business and entrepreneurship had become a complex issue owing to fierce competition. “Innovation is the key to development of the MSMEs. Only if they innovate, they can cement their position among competitors,” he said.
Rohini Sridhar, vice-chairperson of CII-Madurai Zone, and A.K.Nawas Babu, co-convenor of the MSME panel, were present.
