The government recently released a discussion paper on permitting foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail chains like those run by Wal-Mart and Carrefour around the world. Amit Ladsaria, director of Kolkata-based Turtle Ltd, a manufacturer and marketer of branded apparel, spoke to Swati Garg on this issue as well as about growth and sustainability for smaller apparel players in an increasingly globalised market.

Q&A: Amit Ladsaria, Director, Turtle Ltd

Business Standard

Soon, German expertise in the field of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) will be available to budding entrepreneurs in Uttar Pradesh.

German expertise for budding UP entrepreneurs

After flat growth for two years, the Indian machine tool industry is seeing boom times again. Inclusive of imports, it grew by 47 per cent to Rs 1,923 crore in the first quarter of 2010-11 (April-June), over the corresponding quarter of last year, on the back of a big rise in demand from the automobile and auto components sector.

Machine tool industry sees revival in fortunes

Banks and other financial institutions are hesitant to fund small entrepreneurs who want to set up shops like grocery stores, but one finance company whose lending business is heavily-focussed on this segment is Shriram City Union Finance Ltd (SCUFL). In fact, it has also doubled its target for loan disbursements.

Shriram City Union steps up loans to micro units

We are in the business of cutting hot rolled or cold rolled coils into sheets. We are taking Cenvat Credit on inputs and paying duty on the final products. Our Central Excise authorities, who were earlier approving this, are now objecting to it.

'Cutting of steel sheets does not amount to manufacture'

The government of Uttarakhand has decided to set up a facilitation council &mdash; an arbitration tribunal &mdash; with quasi-judicial powers. It will decide all disputes arising from unpaid dues of micro and small enterprises for goods or services supplied by them.

Uttarakhand to have a body to settle unpaid dues

The growing stature of Indian corporate players in the global market has brought home to India Inc the need for the modernisation of small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Mother units take their vendors in hand

Started in 1996, IndiaMART.com is a B2B online marketplace that acts as a platform for buyers and sellers to trade. Its newest initiative involves imparting online marketing lessons to small and medium enterprises. Arun Tyagi, general manager, marketing, IndiaMART.com, spoke to Pravda Godbole.

Q&A: Arun Tyagi, GM, Marketing, IndiaMART.com

According to the SIDBI Report on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Sector, 2010, the eight most important reasons for sickness in the sector are, in descending order of importance: lack of demand (reported by 71.6 per cent of sick units), shortage of working capital (48 per cent), marketing problems (44.5 per cent), power shortage (21.4 per cent), non-availability of raw material (15.1 per cent), equipment problems (10.6 per cent), labour problems (7.4 per cent) and management problems (5.5 per cent).

Lack of demand top reason for sickness

Four Design Clinic Centres (DCCs), part of a Design Clinic Scheme started by the government, could give India&rsquo;s micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) a much-needed shot in the arm, according to Pradumnya Vyas, director of the Ahmedabad-based National Institute of Design, the nodal agency for the scheme.

MSME products to get designer touch

Daily wage labour who make safety pins are the newest casualty of Chinese imports.

No safety for livelihood of pin-makers

Uttarakhand appears headed for another push to the growth of SMEs in the state, through a new industrial policy.

Uttarakhand to redraw  industrial policy

In order to boost the sales of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), the National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) has proposed that 20 per cent of the value of the government&rsquo;s annual purchases should be made from micro and small enterprises.

Smaller units to get a big boost

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in and around Coimbatore have said they are witnessing a sharp rise in job orders from overseas customers. A cross-section of industry representatives have said this was mainly due to the adoption of e-marketing, which they took up as a cost-control measure during the global financial crisis.

E-marketing increases overseas orders for SMEs in Coimbatore

In a rare gesture of amnesty towards small and medium outfits of the state, the Punjab Small Industries and Export Corporation (PSIEC) offered a waiver of interest and penal to the defaulter allottees of industrial plots located across the state.

Punjab SMEs get waiver on penal interest

Private equity (PE) investments in microfinance institutions (MFIs), which fell by 12 per cent last year (2009), have recovered this year.

Private Equity funds step up investments in MFIs

We have an export oriented unit (EOU). We want to import some capital goods on lease from the supplier.

'EOUs can't lease capital goods from suppliers'

This finding is the result of a survey of 200 MSMEs (42 micro, 114 small and 44 medium enterprises) from all over India, primarily from the cities of Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Jamshedpur, Surat, Rajkot and Bangalore. The survey was conducted through a questionnaire and on-field discussions and interviews with MSMEs.

Poor infrastructure a big hurdle to MSME growth

Upbeat trends in markets the world over seem to have percolated into the Indian information technology (IT) sector &mdash; and especially into the small and medium segment.

Tide of downturn ebbs for smaller IT players

In a bid to tap emerging occupations such as imitation jewellery and beauty salons in regions such as Rajkot, Jamnagar and Surat, the Centre for Entrepreneurship Development (CED) here is setting up a self-employment training centre.

Training by design in Gujarat

Faces competition from multinationals and low demand in the domestic market.

TN matchbox industry to focus on exports

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.

Page 85 - SME