Policy support and innovation emerge as key focus areas at ET Make in India SME Regional Summit in Indore

Indore successfully hosted the ET Make in India SME Regional Summit, uniting industry leaders, SME associations, and small business owners to collaborate, address challenges, and shape the future of regional entrepreneurship.

A nationwide series of events, the ET Make in India SME Regional Summits, connect local MSMEs, policymakers, industry experts, and stakeholders. These summits help Indian MSMEs find new opportunities, solve problems, share knowledge, and network, boosting their growth.

Rajesh Rathore, Executive Director of MPIDC's Indore office, delivered a thought-provoking keynote that launched the summit. Rathore offered key understandings of the state government’s plans to support small and medium businesses, emphasising actions designed to boost their progress.
“MSMEs are a top priority for us. Our vision is to establish Madhya Pradesh as a premier hub for high-end economy sectors, and we are facilitating collaborative knowledge-sharing among all stakeholders to achieve this goal,” added Rajesh Rathore.

This followed an engaging fireside chat that saw Santanu Basu, Head, SME – Aditya Birla Finance Limited (ABFL), speak on empowering MSMEs and driving financial inclusion while sharing ABFL’s vision for India’s growth.

“We believe that agribusiness and food processing represent a significant opportunity in MP, especially with the right technology, marketing, and packaging support,” said Basu.
Besides this, Basu also highlighted how pharma and related industries contribute almost 10% of the state's GDP.

After the insightful fireside chat, Gautam Kothari, President of Pithampur Audhyogik Sangathan, addressed the audience on "The road to success for small business growth."

“MSMEs need improved state and central government coordination to simplify business processes,” said Kothari.

After Kothari’s valuable insights, industry leaders and association heads came together for an engaging panel discussion on “Thinking big: How MSMEs in MP can leverage record overseas investments to put it on the global map.”
Yogesh Mehta, President, Association of Industries Madhya Pradesh (AIMP), said “Our product should be internationally competitive. MSMEs should have adequate marketing knowledge of their product to get an edge.”

Pallavi Vyas, MD, Shanta Farms, said, “Innovative and purpose-driven ideas have immense potential for scalability, and the government ecosystem is committed to supporting them. If MSMEs focus on incorporating innovation, sustainability, and scalability into their business models, success is inevitable.”

“MSMEs should be able to get most of their issues resolved online, so that their energy is utilised mainly for production, and not wasted on unnecessary things,” said Pramod Dafaria, Ex-President, AIMP.

Panel discussion was followed by a presentation by Arjun Soni, Head - B2B Sales, Digital Ecosystem, ABFL, showcasing the organisation's Udyog Plus tool–the one-stop shop for all MSME finances.

Manauar Jawed–Chief Credit Officer–RCMB & SME Retail, ABFL, highlighted in his presentation the various MSME lending opportunities and solutions by the organisation.

The Indore SME summit wrapped up, offering a valuable platform for collaboration and networking between small businesses and industry leaders to explore new opportunities.

(This article is generated and published by ET Spotlight team. You can get in touch with them on etspotlight@timesinternet.in)