One of the Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (SMEs) in Coimbatore is supplying components to Bhabha Atomic Research Centre for several decades. It is among the 50-odd SMEs in the district that supply to nuclear, atomic, and defence sectors.
While the flow of orders will be regular and the price realised also might be higher, catering to these sectors demands investments in research, special raw materials, and precision.
Yet, for the thousands of micro, small and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs) in Coimbatore district, the last few turbulent years due to power cuts, economic slowdown, demonetisation, and GST has led to a search for orders from PSUs, especially those in the defence sector.
The country imports a lot of components and there is a need to develop these indigenously, says J. Balu, former president of Coimbatore District Small Industries Association (CODISSIA) .
“Coimbatore is known for technology and quality. The units normally have to take part in tenders to bag orders. Very few units in the south get the orders. And even those who get will not have all the required facilities. So, what Coimbatore needs is a supporting eco system and infrastructure to tap opportunities in this sector,” he adds.
Even if 100 units get orders from the defence sector, Coimbatore can develop into a major hub for this sector and it will revive entrepreneurship here, said V. Sundaram, president of the association.
Elaborating on the challenges of supplying to the defence sector, he says that it normally takes about two years to get approval to start supplying to defence PSUs. Large-scale industries can wait to achieve break even but not the MSMEs. There should be common facilities to test the materials required, to design, etc. Even for re-engineering, the processes need to be innovated, he says.
In the case of micro units, S. Ravikumar, president of Coimbatore and Tirupur Districts Tiny and Micro Entrepreneurs Association, says the association conducted two buyer-seller meets and had participants from all three defence wings. The entrepreneurs are reluctant and the PSUs have several formalities, and many requirements. “We have sought specific allocation of orders from the micro units with relaxed norms.”
J. James, president of Tamil Nadu Association of Cottage and Tiny Enterprises, micro units hardly get the right price for the components these supply as vendors. “Only when we get direct orders for defence will we benefit. Even now we are doing jobs indirectly to the sector as tier-two or tier-three suppliers. The Government should take steps to support the micro units directly,” he said.
