The public sector undertakings and private partners should come together and collaborate to meet the security challenges of the country in the future. There are huge opportunities in the defence sector and micro, small and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs) should tap it, said V.M. Chamola, director (Human Resources) of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.
He inaugurated a conference here on Friday on the theme “Small is Big”, organised by TexasVentures as part of the SUBCON expo.
Mr. Chamola said that one of the sectors achieving significant importance in Make in India initiative was aerospace and defence.
However, though more than 50 million MSMEs were in India, hardly around 6,000 were catering to this sector.
This was because of its capital intensive nature, need for research and development, technology absorption, and skilling. So, the involvement of the government and defence public sector undertakings were important.
The process of transformation had begun and there were encouraging signs that the MSME sector was emerging as a major factor in our increasing self reliance in defence.
On the government side, about 70 % of industrial licences granted in this sector in the last few years was to MSMEs; there were special provisions to MSMEs in the defence procurement procedure; two defence corridors were planned and a defence innovation hub would come up in Coimbatore, he said.
Vanitha Mohan, president of the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Coimbatore, said it had taken 50 years of collective efforts by the government and the industry to facilitate growth of the MSMEs. But, there were clear problem areas.
“We are on the right path. But, there is a long way to go,” she said. Finance and access to credit was important for small businesses. With the rise of financial technology companies, the options were increasing for MSMEs. Similarly, as more consumers embraced internet to make purchases, digital opportunities would increase for small and medium-scale businesses.
