SBI-PHDCCI Industry Roundtable Meet at Baddi was Organised to Strengthen Base of Himachal Pradesh’s MSMEs and Export Ecosystem

New Delhi: As economic rebounding is the need of the hour to brave a new world in post-pandemic times, in association with the State Bank of India (SBI), PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) has started a new business outreach program series “SBI-PHDCCI Industry Roundtable Meet”. In this series, the second program was organised at Hotel Legend Sarovar Portico, Baddi, Himachal Pradesh on 26th August 2021. The “SBI-PHDCCI Industry Roundtable Meet” was organised to bring the important industry stakeholders and exporters of Himachal Pradesh on a common idea/business platform and discuss some of the most crucial aspects concerning businesses and project finance with focus on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), large corporates and enhancing the export potential from the state.

“SBI-PHDCCI Industry Roundtable Meet” at Baddi was attended by the key policymakers from SBI and state’s industry to ideate the way forward for an ever closer cooperation between SBI and industry entities in Himachal Pradesh to support the economic fundamentals and strengthen the business ecosystem. In the post pandemic times, it was one of the early interventions for supporting Himachal Pradesh’s MSMEs and exporters. The deliberations of Meet are expected to help the state’s industry units to directly explore the financing and other banking services available with SBI in Himachal Pradesh.

The Chief Guest & Keynote Speaker Anukool Bhatnagar, Chief General Manager, SBI, Chandigarh Local Headquarters reflected on the macroeconomic trends in the light of pandemic and its adverse impacts on the industry, especially on MSMEs and exports. He said that SBI is open for meeting the financing requirements of Himachal Pradesh’s industries (both MSMEs and large corporates), and assured the industry participants attending the Meet about SBI’s unwavering support for their businesses and Himachal Pradesh’s development at large. To overcome the challenges of demand slump and rising cost of business, he suggested the industry to adapt to the new normal and brave it through their entrepreneurial zeal. He assured that SBI’s inherent strength will be serving the causes of the Indian industry, and like its glorious past, the bank’s present is illustrious in the service of the nation. He shared that through its Chandigarh Local Headquarters, SBI is catering the banking needs of all segments of the customers and the bank is consistently on the progressive path both financially and through its outreach initiatives. Besides initiating various new initiatives in SBI’s Chandigarh circle to support all sizes of businesses, the SBI Nepal Desk is a new institutional initiative to serve the interests of people and businesses in both countries.

In their presentations, O P Choudhary, Deputy General Manager (SMEs), SBI, Chandigarh Local Headquarter and Pawan Kumar, Deputy General Manager (B&O), Shimla, SBI and Jawahar Koul, RM (RBO), Solan, SBI they highlighted the favourable offerings from SBI for MSMEs, exporters and farmers in the state of Himachal Pradesh. The Session was moderated by Atul K Thakur, Deputy Secretary, PHDCCI, from the PHDCCI Himachal Pradesh State Chapter, Dhian Chand, Mentor; Narender Bhardwaj, Co-Chair and Sanjay Gupta, Co-Chair were among the speakers who presented industry’s perspectives from the state.

PHDCCI, the National Apex Chamber established in 1905, has been relentlessly working for the socio-economic development of Indian States’ with an axiom, “Strong States Make Strong Nation.” Under the aegis of its State Development Council (SDC) and its Himachal Pradesh State Chapter, the Chamber essentially carries forward the mission of “Empowering Himachal Pradesh” to strengthen India’s federal structure of governance and economy.

Noticeably, the global pandemic Coronavirus or Covid-19 is being termed as a ‘one in hundred years’ crisis, which has already impacted lives and livelihoods in unprecedented adverse manner. Trade has been stopped, borders locked down and the people were being forced to either stay home or reach their respective homes. Some of the biggest changes that were never expected have taken place. As the crisis has global nature, India is severely impacted as well.

The world is self-assured to see a sort of re-set, it is the time for the government and industry to reckon the urgency of figuring out their immediate priorities, including on supporting the MSMEs, the backbone of the Indian economy. A change in approach is much needed at this point of time, before the fundamentals of the world order go in reset mode, there should be determination to revive the MSMEs financing to support the much needed demand factor of the economy. This is the time for proactive collective action to come out of the trying time with a blueprint for revival of the economy. At the idea front, these were some of the key takeaways from the “SBI-PHDCCI Industry Roundtable Meet” at Baddi, Himachal Pradesh.