The Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), which got the Union Cabinet&rsquo;s approval in November 2011, is gearing up to be fully operational by the next financial year.

Biotech research body expected to boost innovation

Business Standard

According to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), total outstanding credit to this sector rose to Rs 3.76 lakh crore in March 2011, from Rs 2.78 lakh crore a year earlier.

Loans to MSMEs rise to 15.1% of total bank credit 

With all eyes on the next round of monetary measures from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), foreign private sector banks like Citibank expect a promising business scenario to emerge, especially for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Rajat Madhok, managing director and head of Commercial Bank, Citibank India, talks to Rutam Vora about the credit scenario for SMEs and future growth prospects.

A rate cut is required now to boost small and medium units' growth: Rajat Madhok

Micro, small and medium enterprises in India are employment-intensive, and contribute heavily to industrial output and exports. Yet, they are short of capital, manpower, markets and technology. Ramesh Datla, chairman, CII National MSME Council and managing director, Elico Ltd, tells T E Narasimhan what needs to be done for them.

Q&A: Ramesh Datla, CII National MSME Council

The Andhra Pradesh Handicrafts Development Corporation (APHDC) is planning to bring Chinese expertise in the red sandalwood handicraft industry. For this, it plans to set up a Rs 10-crore unit near Tirupati. &ldquo;We are planning to tie up with some Chinese private players, who are involved in the red sandalwood craft, to train our craftsmen,&rdquo; Y Madhusudan Reddy, managing director, AP Handicrafts Development Corporation, said.

Chinese expertise for red sandalwood craft

Representatives feel the approach should have been more sector-specific.

Industry upset with rupee export credit extension

Around 85 per cent of the participants surveyed said it took 16 to 60 days to receive their dues.

Delayed payments by large companies add to SME sickness

Thanks to a three-year project by the World Bank and the UK Department for International Development, in association with the Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi), Uttarakhand&rsquo;s 200-odd pharmaceutical companies, mostly small and medium enterprises (SMEs), are set to realise their export potential.

Encouraging project at Uttarakhand pharma cluster

We have a manufacturing unit in a Special Economic Zone (SEZ). We have now received an order from Nepal, for which payment will come in Indian rupees.

'Export to Nepal not specifically covered under SEZ Act'

The Tamil Nadu government has decided to promote agri-allied industry, to treble small and marginal farmers&rsquo; income in five years. It is also planning to promote new clusters and form companies in which these farmers will hold a stake.

TN to promote agri-allied activities 

In order to reach out to 2.5 million-odd SMEs in the country and assist them in achieving the next level of productivity, competency and employee engagement, the CII-Avantha Centre for Competitiveness for SMEs plans to launch best manufacturing practices like 5S, Poka-Yoke and Flow manufacturing in the e-learning format in English as well as in regional languages.

CII-Avantha Centre to launch best practice modules

Protiviti Consulting, established in 2006, is the Indian arm of Protiviti Inc, a risk and business consulting firm specialising in internal audit. Protiviti helps both established and emerging companies to identify and manage risk. Mritunjay Kapur, a chartered accountant, has extensive experience in corporate governance advisory, enterprise risk management, business operations improvement, internal audits and transaction support services.

Effective risk management is crucial for small businesses: Mritunjay Kapur 

Only 5.2 per cent of respondents in a survey of SMEs in the rubber and rubber products conducted by IndiaMART Knowledge Services revealed that they planned to invest in computers.

Only 5.2% of SMEs in rubber products sector to invest in computers

We are working under SSI exemption. We have now received an export order. We want to know the procedure for not counting the export clearances for the exemption limit of Rs 1.50 crores.

'No service tax payable for manufacturing processes'

Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi) plans to raise around Rs 10,000 crore from various foreign and domestic development institutions by the end of the current financial year. According to a senior official from Sidbi, the bank&rsquo;s borrowing from foreign institutions has increased, since the cost of funds in the domestic market is high.

Sidbi to raise Rs 10,000 crore by end of current fiscal year

The bilateral trade between India and France had fallen from &curren;6.78 billion to &curren;5.36 billion mainly due to the global economic slowdown and had hurt several SMEs in both countries.

France solicits Indian SMEs with incentives

The bilateral trade between India and France had fallen from &curren;6.78 billion to &curren;5.36 billion mainly due to the global economic slowdown and had hurt several small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in both countries.

The proposed goods and service tax (GST), which has seen the main political parties adopt opposing views, spells a mixture of good news and some restrictions for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), industry experts said.

GST to enhance SMEs' efficiency

The Indian textile industry, whose margins have been squeezed by the 27 per cent increase in cotton price last season, has gone on the warpath to ensure that a situation similar to last season is not replicated in 2010-11.
Industry players are demanding that preferential status be accorded to readymade garment exports over export of raw cotton; that export of cotton, if any, should be carried out in a calibrated manner, and that domestic demand for cotton should be given priority over exports

Textile industry seeks curbs on cotton exports

Our excise consultant says we need not pay education cess and secondary higher education cess on clearances from Export Oriented Units (EOU) to the Domestic Tariff Area (DTA), if the excise duty is based on the Customs duty leviable on like goods, if imported. Our excise officials say cess must be paid because the calculation of equivalent Customs duty is only for arriving at the excise duty and cess must be paid on the excise duty.

'Education cess not chargeable on total value of Customs duties'

Whoever said only adults can be entrepreneurs? SIES Clinic, founded by two professors, is out to prove them wrong. SIES Clinic, which stands for Start-up, Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Strategy Clinic, encourages children to throw up ideas that can be turned into successful business ventures.

Children lord it over adults at this incubator

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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