Mega 3-day India International MSME Startup Expo to strengthen 'backbone of country'

The fifth India International MSME Startup Expo will be hosted in New Delhi’s sprawling Pragati Maidan from June 22-24, 2018.

Around 200 Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) from India and 45 foreign companies will be participating in this mega event billed as one of the biggest to showcase this sector and address their issues.

The event will be inaugurated by the Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu. The MSME Excellence Awards 2018 and Startup Innovation Awards 2018 will also be announced.

The three-day meet will include panel discussions, workshops, and exhibitions. The event will be attended by industry leaders, manufacturers, and business chambers.

Media reports quoting Rajnish Goenka, Chairman, MSME Development Forum, a non-profit organisation that is holding the expo, said that “Countries are no longer captured physically. They are occupied economically now. In India, the MSME sector is the army. This is why we need to strengthen this backbone of the country. However, MSMEs are still not free of massive problems.”

MSMEs make up for 45% of India’s GDP. According to International Monetary Fund’s latest forecast, India is projected to grow at 7.4 percent this fiscal year. And experts feel MSMEs comprising manufacturing, infrastructure, service industry, food processing, packaging, chemicals, IT and more, will be the force behind India’s growth story.

However, the sector has been reeling under lack and easy access to capital. Many are yet to recover from the demonetisation move of 2016 and last year’s GST norms.

“Apart from banks, the NBFCs have also become popular options to seek credit from but they charge 24% interest which is very high for small businesses. Complicated tax structures, additionally, could be very confusing for them too. Juxtaposed with all these are the middlemen and inspector raj that make operating a small business almost insufferable,” Goenka was reported as saying.

Stating that with the International MSME Startup Expo 2018 they are trying to create an international platform where the Indian companies can interact with the world, Goenka said the “intention was to create job creators out of job seekers.”

The organisers are also looking to encourage investments in India by the foreign delegates.