Though the reintroduction of the Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) after a gap of nine months has set the ball rolling with regard to projects that were kept on hold, including those of spinning mills, looms and other textile sector investments, the reduction in repayment period for loans is likely to make things difficult for these units.

Reduction in repayment period to hit new units: Sima

Business Standard

There are around 35 million medium, small and tiny enterprises across the country, but less than two million of them are online, according to Sridhar Seshadri, Head of Online Sales at Google India.

57% of SMEs use internet as sales channel, finds survey

A few years ago, Anil P Joshi, a social activist from the Kotdwar area of Uttarakhand, took up the task of bringing back to life defunct watermills in Uttarakhand, with the aim of producing green power.

Bringing back Himalayan watermills to life

Having been a supplier to the Indian defence and aerospace sectors for the past four decades, MTAR Technologies Private Limited, which fabricates precision components and complex engine systems, is one of the very few Indian companies that can claim to have the capability to build an entire nuclear reactor on its own. P Ravinder Reddy, chairman of the Hyderabad-based company, which is now focusing more on global opportunities, speaks to B Dasarath Reddy.

Q&A: P Ravinder Reddy, Chairman, MTAR Technologies Pvt Ltd

Against our advance authorisation, we have fulfilled our export obligation and submitted necessary documents to the Joint Director General of Foreign Trade (JDGFT), who has issued the export obligation discharge certificate (EODC). We have submitted the same to the Customs but they are asking for documents again to confirm discharge of export obligation.

'Seaway Bill is proof of receipt of goods'

Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE), a Central government organisation under the ministry of MSME, is developing a handloom cluster in the Mangalore area of Haridwar district under an integrated handloom development scheme in Uttarakhand &mdash; a move that would benefit over 400 weavers, mostly Muslims.

IIE develops handloom cluster at Haridwar

Ozonetel Systems, a Hyderabad-headquartered cloud telephony services firm, has launched a virtual PBX system that does away with the need for on-site equipment and wiring of a conventional PBX system as well as the need for a separate PBX for different offices of a company.

Ozonetel offers virtual PBX for start-ups

Forms an Automotive Skills Development Council to tie up with training institutes.

Auto parts industry chalks out plans to source skilled workers

To address the issue of scarcity of skilled manpower, the Rajkot Machine Tools Manufacturers Association (RMTMA) has set the ball rolling for imparting education to workers of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) on subjects such as design, tools, marketing, technology and even management. Some of these programmes have been initiated with the help of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (Unido).

Rajkot SMEs to get design, marketing lessons

Participation of MNCs into the three-day 'FGI Expo 2010-Ancillary Development Summit', beginning here from December 2 will ensure more business for MSMEs in Gujarat, a top company official has said.

More biz for MSMEs to come at FGI Expo

Press Trust of India

In April-May 2009, the collector of Maharashtra&rsquo;s Kolhapur district &ndash; Laxmikant Deshmukh &ndash; began an initiative to collect sonography data from all sonography centres in the district to tackle the skewed sex ratio. He discovered that there was a need for a system that could monitor the activities of doctors and prevent under-reporting and false reporting of pregnancy tests.

New device helps curb female foeticide

The mountainous terrain, a fragile environment, small and fragmented holdings, a complete lack of irrigation facilities and poor marketing infrastructure, among other factors, has hampered the growth of horticulture in Uttarakhand.

U'khand to boost horticulture with 20,000 'polyhouses'

The Google AdWords platform completed 10 years last month, and during this period it has helped over a million small and medium enterprises globally to leverage the power of search engine advertising. Sridhar Seshadri, head of online sales at Google India, describes the company&rsquo;s strategy in an e-mail interaction with Business Standard.

Q&A: Sridhar Seshadri, Head, Online Sales, Google India

The Indian auto components and accessories sector, which was hit hard by the recent economic slowdown, is again moving ahead in fifth gear, according to the findings of a survey by the IndiaMART Research Unit (IRU). IndiaMART is an online business-to-business marketplace.

Auto parts units back in fifth gear after the slowdown

Around 20 per cent of the units, with revenues between Rs 1 crore and Rs 10 crore, have shut down due to rising cost of raw materials and other inputs.

Knitwear exporters in Tirupur close shop

According to industry insiders, the upcoming goods and services tax (GST) can spell major benefits for micro, small and medium (MSME) units in Gujarat&rsquo;s pharmaceutical industry, with as much as a 25 per cent increase in business likely.

GST may benefit pharma MSMEs

We intend to set up a unit in a Special Economic Zone (SEZ). We want to know whether we need to furnish any bank guarantees like we do for Export Oriented Units (EOU).

'SEZ units sending goods for job work to DTA must furnish bank guarantee'

The slowdown has eased and the general economy is looking up, but the small SME sector is still not in the pink of health and is hiring only tentatively. At the same time, there&rsquo;s also a shortage of skilled labour.

Hiring by SMEs picks up, but still tentative

Union Bank, Punjab National Bank and State Bank of India to set up skill development institutes in Uttarakhand.

Banking on the young

Avi Basu is the President and Chief Executive Officer, Connectiva Systems, a New York- headquartered IT company that specialises in software dealing with revenue and fraud management. A member of President Obama&rsquo;s team of 100 CEOs that visited India last month, Basu spoke to Swati Garg on the future of outsourcing and the manner in which niche IT companies fit into the current scheme of things.

Q&A: Avi Basu, President and CEO, Connectiva Systems

The Rs 4,000-crore pump industry in Coimbatore is all set to touch the Rs 6,000 crore in sales revenues over the next two years. Nevertheless, it says that a number of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the industry are either closing shop or increasingly becoming suppliers to large companies, due to erosion in their profit margins due to increases in raw material prices.

Small pump makers turn vendors to big units

SME: Find all the latest news on Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in India. Explore more for the top headlines about SME sector on Business Standard.

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