India has chosen the reigning Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government as the key decision maker for another five years and the shareholders of all industries are cheering over the big win. From corporate veterans like Anand Mahindra and Harsh Goenka to the startup community and shareholders of MSME sector, all have high expectations of NaMo 2.0.
Regarded as the backbone of Indian economy, the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) while faced a downer due to demonetization and the implementation of GST (Goods and Services Tax), have moved past the little roadblock and now view the economic reforms in a new light, a brighter one at that.
MSMEs hope for the new government to address their pain points to build a conducive environment for them to work in. More so, as Vijay Mansukhani, the Managing Director of Mirc Electronics Ltd rightly put it, “Invite suggestions from industry and jointly make policy decisions.” Now, while that could be too much to ask, the government can consider recommendations from RBI’s Expert Committee on MSMEs.
Exporters’ Grief
A majority of the MSME community is built over the exporters’ drive to ship Indian commodities outside. Lauding Modi’s much-appreciated scheme - ‘Make in India’, Mansukhani advises for the new government to take the policy more seriously and stop Free Trade Agreement which is helping Chinese companies to export goods to India from Vietnam and Thailand.
“Increase custom duties to prevent imports,” he further suggested. Modi’s consistent foreign visits were meant to ensure good trade relationships with other countries, which according to Sunu Mathew, the Managing Director of LEAP India is the key to the progress of MSMEs in the country. We have already been on the path of global exposure but now, the focus should be on easing the path for MSMEs.
Adding on, Ankit Gupta, the Vice President of ExportersIndia.com stated, “Private investment and consumption would be two key facets that would need some fast paced working to set the economy ticking. MSMEs look forward to the liberalization of policies so that they are able to innovate, invest in new technologies and equip themselves to adapt to the changing business environments.”
Among the biggest setbacks for MSMEs, the traditional operational outlook has caused the most harm. With corporates digitizing their ways and startups bringing innovative solutions, additional measures to improve corporate productivity of the sector should be among the top priorities, so should the reforms to ease the way business is done.
