After the month long pre and post ‘Republic
Day’ celebrations with Mobama’s budding friendship hitting the headlines every
now and then in January, February is here with its own set of expectations..
Be it every girl and boy friends’
expectations from the upcoming Valentines’ week or Delhites’ expectations from
the ‘new CM to-be’ to the business men's expectations from the Union Budget; the month is certainly going to be crucial from
the point of view of news and news-makers. Everyone has their own prognostications and
wish-lists.
Recent utterances from both the prime minister and
the finance minister have made it clear that the upcoming budget will be a
marked departure from the business-as-usual version of July 2014. In terms of both its vision and how it wishes to
implement, it can be said that that it is the 'showtime' for Modi government. He has made it
clear that the interests of the poor cannot, and will not be, overlooked. Well! Lets just hope that he fulfills the said promises and assurances! Here are a few problems the SME sector and entrepreneurs would wish to be addressed in the Budget 2015.
In view of the SMEs:
India’s new central government, headed by Narendra Modi, has promised to make business a less traumatic process for entrepreneurs. Indian SMEs today are the undisputed power house of the economy. Not only are they generating millions of employment opportunities but are significantly contributing to our country’s industrial output. Despite its commendable contribution to the nation's economy, SME sector does not get the required support from the concerned government departments, banks, and financial institutions, which is a handicap in becoming more competitive in the national and international markets.
SMEs are important to India because India currently has more than 48 million SMEs who contribute more than 45 per cent of India’s industrial output, 40 per cent of total exports and create 1.3 million jobs every year. Yet, SMEs continue to struggle on multiple accounts. While some are challenged by credit and finance issues, others are struggling to cope with stringent regulatory environments.
SMEs face a number of problems - absence of adequate
and timely banking finance, limited capital and knowledge, non-availability of
suitable technology, low production capacity, ineffective marketing strategy,
identification of new markets, constraints on modernisation & expansions,
non availability of highly skilled labour at affordable cost, follow up with
various government agencies to resolve problems etc.
Modi has repeatedly emphasised the need for higher and sustained growth. Thus, expectations are high from the Modi government in lieu of the Budget to be unveiled on February 28, 2015. While there are lot of speculations on the
expectations, one needs to wait till the end of the month for the final outcome.
