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Time of India
3 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
ET Make in India SME Regional Summits: Racing past China while Trump's tariffs clear the path
Live Events The timing couldn't be better for Surat's industrial renaissance. As geopolitical tensions reshape global supply chains and AI overhauls manufacturing, this city's diverse MSME ecosystem is positioning itself to capture opportunities worth tens of billions of transformation is most visible in Surat's diamond district, where Jayanti Savaliya of the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) oversees an industry that has evolved from manual processes to AI-driven precision in just two decades."Changes that took a decade earlier are now happening in two years," Savaliya shared, describing how robotic machines now handle diamond sorting while AI reduces jewellery design rendering from days to minutes. Savaliya was part of the panel 'From looms to labs: How Surat's MSMEs can lead India's next wave of industrial innovation'. The discussion was one of several insightful conversations at the ET Make in India SME Regional Summit in Surat, which took place on July 18. The summit had IDBI as banking and lending partner and Canon as tech other panellists were: Ashish Gujrati, Managing Director, Aditya Textile Solutions and Past President, SGCCI; Bikash Chandra Naik, Zonal Head, NSIC; and Prashant Patel, Past President of FISME and Director, RK Synthesis former President Trump's trade policies have become Surat's secret weapon. His tariffs hit China with 40% duties on jewellery while India faces just 16-26%, creating what Savaliya called "a huge opportunity" as manufacturing shifts from Chinese factories to Surat's 600 new jewellery tariff advantage extends beyond diamonds. Ashish Gujrati pointed to recent developments in Bangladesh, where a 35% tariff has global garment buyers scrambling for alternatives. Surat, which produces 65% of India's man-made fiber, stands ready to fill the numbers are staggering: Surat's garment industry is growing 25% annually, and the city has a $30 billion export opportunity in man-made fiber textiles alone. With global MMF exports projected to grow from $7.7 billion to over $73 billion, Surat's comprehensive ecosystem — spanning the entire value chain within 45km — positions it as a natural city's MSME transformation runs deeper than favourable trade winds. Prashant Patel, described a fundamental shift in business philosophy. "Historically, Indian companies avoided R&D, opting for copy-paste models," he noted at the ET SME Summit panel in Surat. "But since Covid-19, this mindset has changed."Today, Surat companies invest in developing new technologies, not just new products. This includes process optimisation that reduces raw material usage and addresses pollution concerns, which are critical factors for accessing international markets increasingly focused on government infrastructure supporting this innovation has evolved too. Bikash Chandra Naik spoke about NSIC's Single Point Registration Scheme, which reserves 25% of government procurement for small competitive edge increasingly lies in its skilled workforce. Despite China's scale and cost advantages, nine out of 10 diamonds globally are still processed in Surat, a testament to the city's unmatched expertise in precision advantage is expanding beyond traditional sectors. While Jaipur currently dominates gemstone processing, Savaliya underlined the untapped potential for Surat to leverage its existing infrastructure and skilled labour in this adjacent obstacles remain. Land costs in Surat now exceed those in competing industrial centers like Bharuch and Vapi. Skilled workers command premium salaries that stretch MSME budgets, while the lack of shared R&D infrastructure forces companies to either invest crores of rupees in equipment or relocate to areas with better common challenges haven't dampened ambitions. With the PM MITRA textile park awaiting implementation and India's global textile trade share poised for recovery from its current 2.94%, Surat's MSME ecosystem appears ready to capitalise on a convergence of technological advancement and geopolitical the panel discussion at the ET Make in India SME Regional Summit - Surat revealed, the city's transformation from a traditional manufacturing hub to an innovation-driven ecosystem reflects a broader shift in Indian industry, one where MSMEs aren't just adapting to global changes, but actively shaping a world where supply chains are being redrawn and AI is redefining manufacturing, Surat's diverse industrial base and rapid technology adoption may well position it to lead India's next wave of industrial innovation. The ET Make in India SME Regional Summits , ET MSME Day, and ET MSME Awards are flagship initiatives to celebrate the versatility and success of India's MSME sector. If you lead or are part of a micro, small, or medium enterprise, register for the ET MSME Awards 2025 before August 31, 2025.
Time of India
04-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Need to enhance outreach of NSIC, NSSH schemes across Maharashtra: MSME Minister Manjhi
In an outreach to promote Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Maharashtra, Jitan Ram Manjhi , Union Minister for MSME , visited the NSIC Office in Mumbai on Friday. The Minister participated in a plantation drive and presided over a function organised for distribution of Single Point Registration Scheme (SPRS) certificates under the National SC-ST Hub ( NSSH ) and NSIC the gathering, the Minister stated that the MSMEs are the vibrant and dynamic part of Indian economy and plays a crucial role in nation's growth, it highly contributes to the employment generation and emphasized the need to enhance the outreach of NSIC and NSSH schemes across Maharashtra, ensuring that more MSME units, especially from marginalized and underserved communities, benefit from Ministry of MSME schemes. He reaffirmed the government's commitment to building a stronger MSME ecosystem through better market access, financial support, and capacity development. The Minister motivated the entrepreneurs to contribute more in the GDP of the event marked a vibrant display of government commitment towards fostering MSME growth and inclusivity. It was attended by Mercy Epao, Joint Secretary - SME, Ministry of MSME; Subhransu S Acharya, Chairman-cum-Managing Director, NSIC; and other senior officials from the Ministry of MSME including MSME Development and Facilitation Office (MSME-DFO) and Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC).During the programme the SPRS certificates to selected MSME units were distributed and an interactive session where the Minister engaged directly with entrepreneurs and assured them of continued government support.
The Hindu
04-07-2025
- Automotive
- The Hindu
Indian designer A. Balasubraman wins U.K.'s Hills Millennium Award
The first Indian to receive the Hills Millennium Award, professor A. Balasubramaniam, 64, will be felicitated in Birmingham, U.K., on July 12. The award is given annually by the UK-based IED (Institute of Engineering Designers est. 1945) to an international designer who has made significant contributions in the fields of product design and/or engineering design. Recipients are chosen by the Council, and its delegates, from nominations. The late professor Peter Hills who presented the cup to the IED in 2000 to mark the millennium, was the President of IED at that time. Past winners include Moroccan-born Spanish American automobile designer Frank Stephenson, and Marcus Engman, Creative Director at Ingka Group (IKEA Retail). Bala, as he is known fondly in design and academic circles, is a NID graduate and director at the Institute of Design at JKLU, Jaipur. Inspired by thinkers like MP Ranjan, Don Norman and Peter Hills, Bala has been a passionate advocate of design. His 2015 blog post pushing for a Ministry of Design went viral with 4,000 hits the first day. Cited as an educator to watch out for in the Higher Education Digest 2023, this win for Bala is a timely acknowledgement of India's contribution to design and design education. The designer-educator talks to us about the award and the product design scene in India. Can you tell us about getting the Hills Millennium Award? It was a surprise. I got a message from one Harrison Stocker at IED on LinkedIn saying, 'You have won an award'. I had worked with Hills, an engineering designer, years back when he came to India as an external consultant to NSIC (National Small Industries Corporation Ltd.), which is now MSME. I was a bit miffed that they needed a foreigner for expert advice, but later, we hit it off. We put together the design initiative at NSIC called PRIDE (Prototype Initiative for Design Excellence). While Hills was heading IED, I wrote an article on the state of Indian design. Over casual conversations, we found out that we both shared a birthday. I'd drop him a greeting card every year, along with a letter venting my joys and frustrations about design in India. This correspondence went on over 20 years. This year when I sent him a letter, his wife Jane wrote back saying he'd passed away in September last year. He would have been 90 this year. What does the award mean for you personally, and what does it mean for designers in India? For one, it is acknowledging an individual's contribution to the profession. This is important. At JKLU, I began the Design Guru award in honor of MP Ranjan. We celebrate one senior designer every year. In 2020 we picked Don Norman as he has been evangelizing design for a while. I'm very happy Don accepted it. Industrial designer and educator Shuchi Mathur said to me once, 'You start from nothing and you build it into something.' I was invited in an advisory role to JKLU, as founder Pramath Raj Sinha wanted to start a school of design. They already had engineering and management. Sinha was excited with my vision document, which began with a quote from Don Norman — 'Design education has to move away from schools of art and architecture and move into the schools of science and engineering.' I was the first employee at JKLU's Institute of Design and I put a team together. We decided on 4 disciplines: Interdisciplinary Design, Product Design, Interaction Design and Integrated Communication. You have practiced since the 1980s when design was not well understood in India. How did you address its perception? We would identify industries that manufactured products — like Usha – and make a design presentation. Basically, we would educate the client about design to get a project. My interest in teaching began right here. It was a 3-stage pitch-to-project process that worked. One of my earliest products was a flashlight for Eveready, with a reach to rural areas. The brief was — inexpensive to make but cannot look cheap. My product cost was just 7 rupees, including the graphics. It sold for 35 rupees a piece. They went on to manufacture 30,000 pieces on 3 shifts a day. If only I had asked for royalty! What are some issues young designers face in the field today? Are there still communication hurdles in addressing clients and industries, or funding a prototype? It is relatively easy to do product design today. There are plenty of opportunities. This generation also understands users much better, and software — they pick up many aspects on their own from YouTube. It becomes far more challenging for faculty to contribute. Projects are well-funded, and the Indian Government is getting into design. The MSME scheme was such a game changer, as it acknowledged designers' contribution to small industries. There's a charm in working for this sector as you can make a greater impact. I worked with grassroots innovators, commissioned by the National Innovation Foundation, one of Government of India's launchpads for design. I designed a multipurpose processor for a client in Haryana to process tomatoes. He thought we were going to steal his idea! We developed a safe, ergonomic and stylish prototype and told him, 'Go ahead, make it.' How has your approach facilitated your evolution as an educator and designer? Educating clients was a starting point. I like converting people, building a constituency for design. My first blog post was 'Demand good design.' Else design won't flourish and we won't have good products. It was all about — 'By now, you would have had your bath and started your day. Did the cistern save water? Did the water splash in the washbasin? Could you hold your newspaper? If all this worked, it was done by a designer.' Name some culture-specific Indian products that stand out for you. How can India become a global contender? In the 1980s, designers from Tesseract made a desktop Idli Wet Grinder — Elgi is still the best. In terms of artisanal work, I like Mukul Goyal's work, using the lost wax process. But it seems we still need a Prada to come and tell us that we have world-class design! The problem starts with the consumer. We need to be ruthless about good stuff. Living with mediocrity irritates me. My latest post is 'Demand Good Designers' with a push to advocate for aspiring graduates. Design still needs evangelizing and I am happy to continue promoting design in all forums. The writer is a brand strategist with a background in design from SAIC and NID.
Time of India
27-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Why India's MSMEs Could Make the 21st Century Ours: NSIC CMD Speaks - The Economic Times Video
As India celebrates World MSME Day, Subhransu Sekhar Acharya, CMD, the National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC), emphasized that the country's MSMEs will be the backbone of a Viksit Bharat, positioning India to lead the 21st century globally.
Time of India
27-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
From Charkha to Chandrayaan: MSMEs are the driving force behind India's Viksit Bharat vision, says NSIC CMD on World MSME Day
As India celebrates World MSME Day , Subhransu Sekhar Acharya , Chairman-cum-Managing Director of the National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC), reflects on the transformative journey of India's MSME sector—from supporting rural artisans to powering space missions. In a candid conversation with ET Digital, Acharya outlines NSIC 's role in aligning with flagship government schemes, fostering digital entrepreneurship, and skilling youth through cutting-edge industrial technologies. He asserts that MSMEs will be the backbone of a Viksit Bharat , positioning India to lead the 21st century. Edited excerpts: ET: How do you see the MSME sector evolve over the years? Subhransu Sekhar Acharya (SSA): NSIC is an organization that has a 70-year-old legacy, and you can say that it has witnessed India's development journey. If you are talking about the MSME sector, which was earlier the small industry sector, I can sum it up in just two words: from Charkha to Chandrayaan. In the initial days, our focus was rural industries. But while we consolidate our base in the rural sector, our MSME sector has evolved to, in fact, be a catalyst in the country's growth in its space missions. So, our MSME sector today is truly agrani, adhunik, and Aatmanirbhar. The MSME sector today stands tall among all sectors contributing to India's dream of Viksit Bharat. The large industry sector has a job potential, but it is limited. Every year, about 15 million people graduate from our universities and colleges, but we cannot truly provide jobs for all of them. So, it is the MSME sector that has this potential to constructively engage our youth in job-providing activities, in value-creating activities, and in making everyone add value in our march towards becoming a developed nation. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like An Phu Dong: Unsold Furniture Liquidation 2024 (Prices May Surprise You) Unsold Furniture | Search Ads Learn More Undo ET: NSIC is a nodal agency for key MSME schemes from the Ministry of MSME. So how do you ensure that your schemes remain aligned with the overall national MSME policy? SSA: If we are dreaming about a Viksit Bharat by 2047, we must ensure that everybody adds incremental value addition, even in their existing activities. The Government of India, through its various aspirational schemes—whether it is PM Vishwakarma Yojana, PM SVANidhi, or others—is targeting that everybody doing something adds incremental value so that the sum total propels India to developed nation status. We are fortunate to be part of many of the government initiatives. PM Vishwakarma is a very aspirational scheme that envisages bringing entrepreneurship to traditional activities. We have our shilpakars, sonars, and lohars—but how to add value by making them entrepreneurs? So NSIC is participating in that in its own way. The Government of India has launched a programme called the MSME Trade Enablement and Marketing (TEAM) scheme, where we are in the process of onboarding 500,000 MSMEs on digital market platforms, and 50% of them we are targeting to be women entrepreneurs. ET: NSIC also runs training incubation centres and common facility centres. Please tell us about them. How many such centres are operational today, and what do you want to achieve with them? SSA: Problems that MSMEs face are multi-dimensional. One of them is the lack of adequate skilled manpower to man the shop floors of MSMEs. Today we can possibly install a machine, but then we do not have skilled hands to run those machines. At NSIC, through our technology centres, we are making skilled manpower available by providing them skills in various modern industrial technologies. Then we have incubation centres. We are talking about enterprise creation—that once an enterprise is created, we can develop it. But how do we bring together one mechanism where our youth, who are looking to do something, are skilled in trades of their choice, then given entrepreneurial training and hand-holding support to approach banks and link them to the market? Through our livelihood incubation centres, also called enterprise creation labs, we are training them in various trades, preparing business plans for them and submitting them to banks for credit support, and after they start producing something, linking them to the market. Live Events ET: We are currently in the era of Industry 4.0. What are the key modern technologies and Industry 4.0 solutions that NSIC offers to help MSMEs adapt and grow? SSA: NSIC is offering a range of modern technologies and Industry 4.0 solutions to help MSMEs adapt and grow. Our offerings include Smart Factory Solutions, Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), CNC and VNC Machine Training, Solar Installation Technologies, Solar Pump Technologies, Electric Vehicle Technologies, and Robotics, etc. The goal is to create a skilled workforce capable of implementing these advanced technologies and helping MSMEs improve their productivity and market positioning. ET: As India celebrates World MSME Day today, what would be your message to the MSME community in the country? SSA: The 21st century is going to be India's century. The 19th century was of Europe, and the 20th century was possibly of the US. Our MSMEs are going to play a pivotal role in helping India acquire that space, acquire that leadership, and contribute to the vision of a Viksit Bharat. MSMEs are going to be the solid rock foundation for our Viksit Bharat dream. To the MSMEs, I will say: this is the best time to grow and touch the next level of success. WATCH THE FULL COVERAGE OF ET MSME DAY 2025
