MSMEs in Maha sees 30-40% growth in business this festive season
The festive sales have played an important role in increasing the output of businesses, influencing the level of economic growth and employment
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The significance of the MSME sector is evident from the government's numerous policy initiatives to consolidate the sector domestically and in exports. Maharashtra is home to over 47.78 lakh MSMEs in the country out of which 47.60 lakh are micro enterprises. The government of Maharashtra is also working towards providing assistance to the sector through various schemes that would affect the livelihood of 90.77 lakh people operating in the sector, helping develop the financial and managerial capabilities of the MSME entrepreneurs and creating awareness on various initiatives for local businesses in the state.
The Indian e-commerce market has transformed the way businesses are carried out in India, especially in the last 20 months, hand holding small businesses to leverage online platforms to access wider audiences, scale-up production, and accelerate digital transformation. The festive season, and the sales that come with it, have played an important role in increasing the output of businesses, influencing the level of economic growth, employment, and the balance of payments. During the 2021 festival season, the average spending saw an increase of 52 per cent, while Maharashtra alone accounted for 24.5 per cent of this. Given that Indians have a tendency to make large purchases during festivals, with the rise of e-commerce we only see this trend getting stronger in the coming years.
The India SME Forum (ISF) is organizing a series of briefing sessions across key markets to educate small sellers on benefits of e-commerce in enabling their recovery in a post-pandemic world, further accelerated with the onset of the festive season. Speaking on this, Vinod Kumar, President, India SME Forum, said, "For a state like Maharashtra, having the fourth-highest concentration of small businesses in the country and contributing to 8 per cent of India's 6.3 crore MSME base, it is even more vital to encourage ease of doing business and foster a business-friendly environment by leveraging the opportunities offered by online platforms. Local shops form the backbone of the retail market and e-commerce companies have been actively working on onboarding them for greater market access with innovations like converting local shops to last mile delivery centers".
Dekade, Joint Director – Industries, Maharashtra, said: "The state of Maharashtra has introduced the CM Employment Generation Program to provide MSMEs and industries with several opportunities to avail grants and subsidies. Women are also being given incentives by the Government to support their growing businesses and endeavours." Various sellers who were a part of the panel also spoke on this. Aabha Pimprikar, Subhojyam, highlighted how the festive season brought with it a 30-40 per cent hike in businesses that is expected to continue growing in the coming years. Dr Mrinal Saraf, Shalaka Bioscience, also stressed that there is a need to create more awareness around online retail to help businesses grow and prosper.
Mrunalini Devraj, SIO, MAITRI, was of the opinion, "The MAITRI portal falls under the directorate of industries and offers over 104 services including access to Public Works Department (PWD), grievance redressal and all departments work in harmony to resolve discrepancies faced by industries and small businesses."
The existing policy caters largely to traditional, offline, and B2B exports. Increased use of B2C e-commerce exports will allow MSMEs to compete with products and services offered by foreign competitors. E-commerce has already demonstrated immense potential in enabling exporters to reach foreign customers more effectively by taking advantage of pre-established infrastructure and robust supply chain. As more consumer-facing Indian businesses go through a process of digitisation, Indian MSMEs can reap significant financial benefits and create export-driven growth. Therefore, it is important to enable a conducive policy that promotes e-commerce as a channel of exports for MSMEs and lowers entry barriers for them. Given the unique business model of e-commerce entities, it is critical for the Foreign Trade Policy 2021-2026 to play an active role in helping local products gain access to international markets through e-commerce. FTP should create dedicated e-commerce export zones by leveraging existing Special Economic Zones (SEZs). We need to develop specialized low-cost and trackable logistics solutions by using channels like India Post, and extend benefits of schemes like Market Access Initiative (MAI) to e-commerce exporters.
Smt Alka Arora, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, said, "The current times require a need for a global market intelligence system to provide an overview of the market positions of various countries and their policies as a way to offer free of cost information to the MSMEs. Amazon's success is also based on the data which gives us a hint of the importance of such a platform. We are working with various councils to help MSMEs become exporters by providing them the required certifications."
