Nitin Gadkari aims to develop Alibaba-like portal for Indian MSMEs; targets 50 pc GDP contribution from sector
Gadkari said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dream of making India a USD 5 trillion economy can only be fulfilled by ensuring the growth of the MSME sector in the county.
Inaugurating the MSME Day 2019 celebrations and the second International SME Convention in New Delhi yesterday, MSME Minister Nitin Gadkari said the government plans to develop a portal for creating a marketplace like Alibaba where all stakeholders from India's MSME sector can find the demand and supply inputs.
Besides, a top official said the government is in talks with World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and KfW Development Bank to see how they can invest more in the country's MSME sector.
MSME Secretary Arun Kumar Panda said the talks have just begun in this regard. Gadkari added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dream of making India a USD 5 trillion economy can only be fulfilled by ensuring the growth of the MSME sector in the country.
He said that in the coming years it will be his endeavour to raise the contribution of MSME sector to the country's GDP to 50 percent from the present 29 percent, and ensure that it gave employment to at least 15 crore people against the 11.1 crore at present.
Gadkari said there is an urgent need to encourage research and innovation in the sector, collaborate with global entities to bring in the latest technology and best practices and also promote marketing. For this, he has proposed creating a new website where people can post new ideas, suggestions and innovations.
This will help develop a bank of innovation and ideas where all stake holders can share their suggestions, technologies etc.
Gadkari also laid emphasis on the need to diversify in new MSME potential sectors, especially in the rural and agricultural sectors.
A few days earlier, Gadkari had said in the Rajya Sabha that the ministry aims to increase the number of MSMEs in India on a sustainable basis through various schemes and programmes.
He had said the ministry is providing better credit facility, technology upgradation, and skilling to boost the entire MSME ecosystem in India.