Policy initiatives helping turbo-charge investments in Maharashtra; will benefit MSMEs and create Jobs: MoS for Industries, Govt of Maharashtra
Pune Ms Aditi Tatkare, Minister of State for Industries, Govt of Maharashtra today said that the various policy initiatives taken by the state government has helped in attracting huge amount of investment even during the COVID-19 and will benefit the MSME sector along with employment generation. She was addressing a virtual session on ‘Building Globally Competitive MSME Ecosystem post-COVID-19: The Way Forward’, organized by FICCI Maharashtra and GIZ.
Highlighting the various initiatives of the state government, to further increase domestic, international investment, she said that the Plug and Play infrastructure which includes 40,000 acres of fully development ready to use factory space at affordable price is one of the major decisions taken by state government. “e-marketing space will help MSMEs to connect with the supply chain, Maha-job portal will provide job to skilled and unskilled labours and meet the requirement of companies trying to set up in rural part of Maharashtra. Maha-Parvana initiative will enable single window clearance,” added Ms Tatkare.
She further added that some of the sectors which can benefit post-COVID include Telecommunications, Healthcare, Electronics, Information and Technology, Pharmacy, Automobile, Renewable, Food, Agriculture and Tourism.
Ms Sulajja Firodia Motwani, Chair, FICCI Maharashtra State Council said that COVID-19 has ravaged the global economy, causing significant business disruptions across industries and supply chain. Excessive Import dependence has prompted the Indian government to initiate Atmanirbhar Bharat programme in 24 sectors and strengthen the local manufacturing.
“While recent challenges of Covid-19 Pandemic have magnified difficulties faced by the MSMEs, it has also presented new opportunities. Businesses have opportunities to reorganize and build on our government’s vision to make India a strong manufacturing and investment destination. It’s time that Industry with the support of Government convert this crisis into opportunities” added Ms Motwani.
Mr Sarabjot Singh Saini, Technical Expert, MSME, GIZ gave a presentation on various programs for modernization and innovation promotion in the MSME sector. The objective of progrrame is to have improved innovation system, which systematically promotes cooperation between industry, academia and government to strengthen the innovation capacity and sustainability of MSMEs (including social enterprises and start-ups).
Mr AR Gokhe, Director, MSME-DI, Mumbai highlighted on the initiatives undertaken by the institute and proposals of cluster schemes initiated by Govt. of India. He also added that Champion portal has been in the fore front of resolving issues of MSMEs and 6-7 new clusters are being evaluated for the next year.
Mr Santosh Mandlecha, President, Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce, Industry & Agriculture (MACCIA), Mr Vivek Jhangiani, CEO, United Toys and Chair, FICCI Toys committee, Mr Saugata Bhattacharya, Chief Economist, Axis Bank, Mr Vikas Sinha, Sr. VP, Strategy, IR and M&A, Mahindra CIE, and Mr Rohan Patodia, Founder, Ducit Materials also shared their perspective on the role of Government in supporting MSMEs.
The discussion was moderated by Malini Bhupta, Resident Editor, The Financial Express.