Entrepreneurship should flourish in the country for the growth of the manufacturing sector, Chairman of Rane Group L. Ganesh said here on Friday.
He inaugurated the three-day technology and engineering exhibition, TechEx 2011, organised here by PSG Tech Alumni Association and PSG College of Technology. Sustenance of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at eight per cent to nine per cent should be led by the manufacturing sector. The manufacturing units should capitalise on the brand image of India and supply world-class products.
There were challenges in the country and China was a formidable competition to India in manufacturing. However, there were inspirations from pioneers here who had created industries in more stifling environments. “We operate in a relatively free environment now.” Large-scale Indian companies should invest more in research and development, industry-institute interaction should be strengthened and entrepreneurship should grow. Only the innovative ideas of the entrepreneurs would help in the growth of the country. Capital availability was not a problem, he said.
Dr. Ewald Bentz, Chief Representative of LAPP Group, said the welfare of a country came from science and technology and manufacturing. Germany was always a technology-driven country. Apart from the large-scale companies, it also had several mid-sized, family-owned companies. These not only supported the big ones but also had their own brands. These companies followed the large-scale ones as they expanded to other countries. Indian SMEs should also look at exports as globalisation enabled the units to assess their competitiveness.
Manufacturing and education were important and Germany had a dual education system that developed the skills of students with hands on experience. This made the students ready for job when they completed their education. Coimbatore had several mid-sized companies and the institutions should look at offering such dual-systems of education.
K. Jayakumar, Joint Secretary, Department of Science and Industrial Research, said small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) played an important role in the Indian economy. About 45 per cent of industrial output in the country and 40 per cent of the country’s exports were from these units. The SMEs employed nearly 60 million people and contributed to 17 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This was expected to increase to 22 per cent by 2020.
The West Asian and African countries preferred Indian products and faculty members. Indian companies need to tap the potential areas such as engineering consultancy and scientific and technical consultancy. The department had 10 outreach centres for science and technology programmes. The SMEs should be more creative and build organisations that would achieve breakthroughs in several fields.
L. Gopalakrishnan, Managing Trustee of PSG and Sons’ Charities, said the institute had played a major rule in developing Coimbatore as an industrial city. Several students who passed out of the institute aspired to be entrepreneurs and job providers.
R. Palaniswami, Chairman of TechEx 2011, said that apart from the exhibition of products manufactured by the companies of the alumni, the three-day event would also have sessions on Saturday and Sunday on financial support schemes for technology ideas, commercialisation, and financial support for growth and expansion. These would be organised by the PSG STEP.
G. Ranganathan, President of PSG Tech Alumni Association, said the association had 10 chapters in India and another 10 abroad. It had taken up five major projects for the diamond jubilee year, including the TechEx event.
R. Rudramoorthy, Principal of PSG College of Technology, said the college was organising national and international conferences as part of the diamond jubilee programmes apart from the exhibition. The college offered over 50 courses, had nearly 8,500 students, and more than 1,000 faculty members. It had established collaborations with several overseas Universities.
The Hindu is the media partner for the three-day event.
