The Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Tiruchi region should explore possibilities of tapping business opportunities in Defence sector, said S. Sundarrajan, Director, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchi.
Presiding over the United Kingdom India Education Research Initiative (UKIERI) sponsored conference on SME Development and Managing Challenges, jointly organised by the National Institute of Technology, Tiruchi, and Brunel University, London, here on Saturday, Mr. Sundarrajan said most of the SMEs in Tiruchi region had been depending on the Bharat Health Electrical Limited (BHEL) orders. Companies could not depend on a few business opportunities as fortunes would keep changing. Hence, the entrepreneurs must closely follow the business trends every day. They should look for orders to expand their business beyond the region.
Pointing out the exponential growth of a section of enterprises in Hyderabad, he said they just executed the orders of BHEL in the initial stages. But they began to supply for defence units and organisations. They had now cemented their units and they were always scouting for orders from other companies as well. Similarly, the SMEs in Tiruchi should look for business opportunities from other companies and organisation, including Defence units.
The NIT-T was ready to provide support to the entrepreneurs to redesign their operations, Mr. Sundarrajan added.
He advised the Indian SMEs to adopt automation as was done in UK enterprises.
V. Vasudevan, General Manager (P&D), BHEL, Tiruchi, said the BHEL had been the largest producer of integrated power plants. However, power sector was not doing well at the moment. The SMEs, which were supplying to BHEL, had been reeling under this impact. The challenges must be properly studied. Case studies must be carried out to find ways to face the challenges as well as sustaining the growth.
Megha Sunger, Senior Project Manager, UKIERI, said the partnership between the U.K. and India had given opportunities to entrepreneurs of both countries to visit each other to study the functioning of SMEs. A number of entrepreneurs, who had visited UK recently, had come up with ideas to overcome challenges.
Ashely Braganza, Professor and Project Leader, Brunel University, London; G. Kannabiran, Professor and Project Leader, NIT-T; and Pari, President, BHELSIA, spoke.