With aerospace firms outsourcing their work to India to cut product development and manufacturing costs, a whole vista of opportunities has opened up for companies catering to the aerospace sector, Aravind Melligeri, chairman and co-founder, QuEST Global, tells Praveen Bose.

Q&A: Aravind Melligeri, Chairman and co-founder QuEST Global

Business Standard

Rajkot&rsquo;s smaller auto component makers are reeling under rising raw material prices, especially of steel. The industry fears that if prices do not stabilise soon, small units will find it difficult to survive. &ldquo;The increasing prices of steel and other raw material have increased the production cost,&rdquo; said Upen Modi of Unitech Engineering Private Limited.

Rajkot auto parts units hit by high steel prices

'Re-export permitted after expiry of bonding'

In a new study on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the state, the Gujarat council of the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) has suggested that the state government should set up special economic zones (SEZs) for small units. The study also states that special tax holiday schemes should be provided for the development of the MSME sector.

Assocham suggests MSME SEZs in Gujarat

The Tamil Nadu Government is to launch 30 clusters this year under the Centrally-funded Accelerated Pulses Production Programme. With farm holdings too small, the state government has adopted the cluster approach for the operational convenience of small and medium farmers.

TN govt to boost pulses output through farm clusters

WEConnect International, an international non-profit organisation, is now launching its programmes in India and China, following successful launches in Canada and Europe. The organisation helps women&rsquo;s business enterprises develop their capacity to grow by enabling them to participate in the global value chain. It is present in the US also, as WBENC.

This one's for the ladies

A sizeable number of small and medium units in the leather industry in Tamil Nadu have closed shop.

Pollution norms, lack of tax sops hit tanneries

&lsquo;Catch them young&rsquo; is the new mantra of the Uttarakhand government, to develop entrepreneurial skills among the youth, especially students.

U'khand schools to hone entrepreneurial skills

Our products are covered under notification no. 49/2008-CE (NT) dated 24.12.2008, issued under Section 4A of the Central Excise Act, 1944. So, we are clearing goods on payment of excise duty on the basis of Maximum Retail Price (MRP). We are clearing free samples also on the basis of MRP. Now the excise authorities are raising some issues.

'MRP-based assessment has no bearing on valuation of free samples'

Small and medium enterprises in Punjab are aiming to procure government orders, apart from their regular custom, to boost their businesses.

Punjab's small units bank on government orders

The Belgaum Foundry Cluster (BFC), India&rsquo;s first dedicated cluster for foundries and allied engineering industries, will go operational with a range of common facilities like a sand reclamation plant &ndash; the first of its kind in north Karnataka &ndash; by the end of October.

India's first foundry cluster set to open

Apco Fabrics has set up a Rs 50-lakh design studio in Hyderabad to support its entry into the lucrative garments segment. Andhra Pradesh&rsquo;s largest handloom cooperative plans to open four or five new stores in the city&rsquo;s upscale areas, such as Banjara Hills, Jubilee Hills, Gachibowli and Hitec City &ndash; with an investment of Rs 10 lakh in each store &ndash; over the next one year.

Apco set to go upmarket

From a modest beginning in 1988-89 with an output of 120 coaches, the Kapurthala-based Rail Coach Factory (or RCF, a production unit of the Railway Ministry) has so for manufactured 23,000 coaches.

Ancillary suppliers ride on Rail Coach Factory's growth

The World Bank in conjunction with the Small Industries Development Bank of India and the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) is implementing an initiative on financing energy efficiency in MSME industrial clusters to improve energy efficiency and reduce Green House Gas (GHG) emissions from MSMEs, utilising increased commercial financing.

Scheme to raise energy efficiency underway

Funds provided to technology incubators located within academic institutions and approved by science and technology ministry, MSME ministry will qualify as CSR expenditure

'Budget's non-tax support to MSMEs will be made available through Sidbi'

Formal sources are able to channel only $140 bn; the study says banks can address the sector's debt and equity financing requirement of $70 bn

$400 bn shortfall in MSME funding: IFC

BS Reporter

High transport cost, insufficient allocation of railway rakes hurt the competitiveness

Kutch salt refiners lose market share

Demand for pork products from the hospitality sector makes it a sunrise industry

Punjab small farmers take to pig farming in a big way

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 120 - SME