JSW Steel portal to help MSMEs

New Delhi: JSW Steel has launched a dedicated website for MSMEs to help them purchase steel even in smaller quantities, a top official said on Tuesday.

MSMEs are usually smaller companies which produce various products for domestic and international markets. Facilitating with timely and affordable deliveries will enable them to compete much better, JSW Steel Director - Commercial Marketing and Corporate Strategy - Jayant Acharya said.

"With this aim, JSW Steel has launched the website JSW For MSME. We are encouraging MSMEs to register so that we understand their requirements better. JSW Steel extends help to MSME with preferential pricing for its steel products, the dedicated sales team for MSMEs," he added. Acharya further said micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) account for 30 per cent of India's GDP. The target is to take this contribution to 50 per cent by 2024-25. In India, there are over 60 million MSME units and many of them are engineering exporters.

Engineering exports in 2019-20 was about $76 billion and the government's aim is to double it to $150 billion by 2024-25. JSW basically would also like to participate and enable this growth for the MSMEs, he noted. On MSMEs problem in sourcing steel, the director said as they are smaller companies, and their lot size is very small. If someone requires a couple of tonnes of a product, it is really difficult for them to access through imports or other markets on a regular basis. For imports, MSMEs need to have a three-month window and nobody is going to book 100 tonne or 200 tonne orders for them. So, for them to predict international market development becomes very difficult. Because of this mismatch, their ability to respond to the international market in time and participate in growth is limited, he said.

"I believe there are more than 60 million MSMEs in the country. Suppose even 1 million buys 100 tonne of steel per year that means 100 million tonne. We would encourage more and more MSMEs to come and register on the site and JSW Steel will supply (directly) or through our distributor channels," he added. PTI