Time for collaboration with MSMEs: Addl Secretary MSME
Aspirations of India is aspiration for Viksit Bharat that talks about how we wish India to become an advanced economy by 2047. India, in its aspiration, has been constantly growing, from being the 10th largest economy 10 years ago to currently the 4th largest economy. It is time to speak about Industry and MSME collaboration to celebrate MSME’ contribution to India’s aspirations, said Dr Rajneesh, Additional Secretary and Development Commissioner, Ministry of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises at the CII Annual Business Summit 2025.
Dr Rajneesh said, through vendor development programs, technology upgradation, transfer of technologies, and integration of SMEs in the supply chain, we can create an opportunity that is a win-win situation for players on both sides of the collaboration, as MSMEs get an opportunity to grow and industry gets an opportunity to source their requirements domestically with emphasis on Atmanirbhar Bharat and a Viksit Bharat.
Dr Rajneesh launched the CII MSME Export Helpdesk during the occasion and expressed optimism for its role in scaling MSMEs to drive competitiveness and productivity.
R Mukundan, Vice President, CII moderated the session and deliberated on the four basic pillars for unlocking the full potential of MSMEs. The pillars include, building skills, capability, and capacity; ensuring that they can work with less regulatory oversight; technology; and their ability to transition to sustainability practices with which the aspirations of Viksit Bharat can be achieved.
Adding further he said, other than employment generation, exports play a critical role as they allow us to plug into the global value chain. In sectors like textile, agricultural processing, and leather, MSMEs lead the way in supplying materials around the world. Their grassroot presence makes them the backbone of evolving India into a high-performing, competitive enterprise in the future.
Addressing the session, Deepak Jain, Chairman, Lumax Group said, MSME represents the true entrepreneurship spirit of India, the aspiration to grow and prosper. The sector creates a lot of employability, however, the value creation and productivity are to be in focus. To scale up the MSMEs, there needs to be a collaborative ecosystem. Make in India, make for the World talks about that.
Shreekant Somany, Chairman & Managing Director, Somany Ceramics said, “For MSMEs to scale, we must expand digital infrastructure, especially in rural and semi urban areas. Affordable digital tools should be made accessible to even the smallest businesses.”
Making a comparison with the global scenario, Sunil Mathur, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Siemens India said, 27 million are employed in small and medium enterprises in Germany, a country of 84 million people, who contribute to 55% of the GDP. India has enormous potential with 60 million enterprises.
Sunil Chordia, Chairman & Managing Director, Rajratan Wire said, India’s MSMEs have always been agile, but today agility must be matched with institutional depth. As global value chains shift, and sustainability becomes central, MSMEs must be ready to not only keep pace but also to lead. The government’s focus on MSMEs through schemes like the credit guarantee program, and investment in infrastructure is creating a strong foundation for scale.
M Ponnuswami, Chairman & Managing Director, Pon Pure Chemicals said, “We should take technology upgradation on priority. Ministry is willing to help in connecting to CSIR labs and is funding for it. With digitisation and automation, AI will create a change of MSME value creation.”
30 May 2025
New Delhi