CII to start new scheme to boost MSME share in GDP

Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in India will now have an opportunity to improve their topline and bottomline. The Confederation of India Industries (CII) is to implement a programme for the MSMEs to increase value addition by them through interventions aimed at increasing the sector's contribution to the country's gross domestic product (GDP).

The initiative is called "Global Top 100 Companies". Only serious players with concrete plans to increase scale and efficiency will be on the CII's radar.

The initiative is to be rolled out in Bangalore on July 4 in the presence of senior officials of the Union ministry of MSME. A CII official told Business Standard that the initiative would trigger a holistic approach to the development of MSMEs, and go beyond manufacturing.

The CII-Avantha Centre for Competiveness, a CII affiliate engaged in the implementation of cost-saving techniques and improving the manufacturing capabilities of MSMEs through the cluster development approach, will be the vehicle for implementing the GT 100 Companies.

The programme is essentially for CII member companies.

Small firms that have attempted strategic improvements with the help of partners like National Institute of Quality Reliability, International Machine Tool Manufacturers' Association, Maruti Centre of Excellence and Automotive Component Manufacturers Association (Acma) will be screened for participation in the programme.

The Board for the GT 100 Companies will consist of seven governing members - The Union industries' secretary; a senior official from the National Small Industries Corporation; the president and director general of the CII; the chairman of the CII-Avantha Centre of Excellence, Gautam Thapar; the chairman of the CII MSME Council, Deep Kapuria; and Arvind Kapoor, a former chairman of Acma - according to the CII official.

CII's objective is to cover 100 SMEs in each of its four regions by the end of four years. It realises that the success of the programme will depend to a large extent on selecting good companies. It has formulated a questionnaire identifying the parameters on the basis of which the selection will be done. The questionnaire is being circulated to all its SME members and participants in its cluster development programmes.

The idea came from Malaysia's SME Corp, which has been implementing a development programme for MSMEs to increase value addition by them through interventions aimed at increasing the sector's contribution to Malaysia's GDP. This involves ensuring that the companies' topline as well as bottomlines increase, because any intervention aimed purely at improving efficiency will only improve the bottomline.

CII came to know of this programme, and decided to explore how it could implement such a programme in India. They approached the Union ministry of MSME, which welcomed the idea. The World Bank has studied the Malaysian programme and concluded that the MSME sector's contribution to Malaysia's GDP has actually increased.

CII will participate in the Malaysian programme to learn about it, so as to be able to implement it properly in India.
THE TOP 100

• The Confederation of India Industries (CII) is to implement "Global Top 100 Companies". A programme for the MSMEs to increase value addition by them through interventions aimed at increasing the sector's contribution to India's GDP
• Only serious players with concrete plans to increase scale and efficiency will be on the CII's radar
• Initiative to be rolled out in Bangalore on July 4. CII official says it would trigger a holistic approach to the development of MSMEs, and go beyond manufacturing
• Objective is to cover 100 SMEs in each of its four regions by the end of four years
• Idea came from Malaysia's SME Corp, which has been implementing a similar development programme for MSMEs to increase the sector's contribution to Malaysia's GDP