The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : A publication devoted to small, medium units

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 28, 2007
ePaper

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

A publication devoted to small, medium units

Staff Reporter

It provides them a global platform to showcase strengths

CHENNAI: The Small and Medium Enterprise Rating Agency of India has joined hands with global business information provider Dun and Bradstreet to publish `Emerging Engineering SMEs of India,' a profile of the sector as a whole and a number of leading SMEs.

The publication is the sixth in a series dedicated to Indian SMEs and aims at providing a global platform for them to showcase their strengths.

"It bridges the information gap," says Manoj Vaish, president and chief executive of D&B India, who promises that his organisation will use its international reach to deliver the publication to global organisations representing potential clients. "It will help SMEs reach out to a worldwide audience."

Vital link

A.V. Muralidharan, chairman and managing director of the Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India, illustrates the value of such resources for SMEs. "You have capability, you have expertise, but how does a small unit in Ambattur get worldwide acknowledgement? This [publication] gives recognition, gives you leverage to push your products abroad," he told the SME representatives present at the release of the book in Chennai last Thursday.

The publication covers 331 companies, each with a turnover of less than Rs. 100 crore. They come from 65 engineering clusters located in 18 States. While 55 per cent of the companies plan to expand capacity soon, 61 per cent export their products to the global market.

These statistics reflect the growth momentum of the sector, which is expected to export $30 billion worth of goods next year.

Job generator

Rajesh Dubey, chief executive of SMERA, points out that apart from forex earning power, the sector is also an employment generator, with a potential to support 4 million jobs. "Infrastructure development, industrial growth and a favourable policy environment will ensure growth of the industry."

Dr. Vaish forecasts that demand will remain healthy, "primarily on account of the Government's increased thrust on infrastructure development."

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