Centre of Excellence
For Aspiring SMEs

A Joint Initiative by IFCI & FISME

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Message from President, FISME

Indian economy is moved by millions of self-employed people. Estimates vary but even the modest one puts the number of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises to be over 64 million. Of these enterprises 23 million have opted for registering themselves at Udyam Portal (MoMSME) by Feb 2024. Over 97.7% of them are Micro, 2.7% are Small and barely 0.2% are Medium sized enterprises.

It is obvious that while entrepreneurship in India is rife but enterprises fail to graduate to next level. Bulk of them remain stuck with a very small size of operations. The Economic Survey (2018-19) put it succinctly and said that MSME sector is strewn with ‘dwarfs’- small firms that never grow.

One of the major handicaps is lack of funds needed to make the transition from Small to Medium or from Medium to Large.

Almost the entire sector is debt dependent. Debt can only take a business to a certain level. Chasing opportunities and building up scale requires partners who can take risks along with the promoter. Wider shareholding through public listing spreads risks and create bigger opportunities for both entrepreneur and investors. But accessing equity finance is one of the major handicaps because of which most of the Micro and Small enterprises fail to graduate to Medium or Large scale. In spite of SME exchanges in India, the rigour of going public has proved too onerous for most MSMEs. Besides having merit in the project, MSMEs need step-by-step support to cross the bridge.

The ‘IFCI-FISME Centre of Excellence for Aspiring SMEs’ aims to address this specific issue. Handholding growth-oriented SMEs in accessing equity to power rapid growth enabling them acquire scale and create sustainable jobs.

team

Mr. Prashant Patel

President, FISME