Cover Stories

NSIC Braces up for the Next Level

“We are ushering in a New Entrepreneurial Ecosystem In tune with the Future Demands” - Dr. H.P. Kumar, Chairman & MD, NSIC
National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) in its vision 2020 has set an ambitious target to achieve a turnover of Rs. 50,000 cr by the turn of the present decade.
 
Set to move to the next level of growth, NSIC is bracing up to create an all-new ecosystem to bring more and more people especially from tier II and tier III townships to have easy access to a variety of its services to create work opportunities for them. 
Dr. H.P. Kumar, Chairman cum Managing Director, NSIC, has set his vision to turn the corporation into a magnificent power house of entrepreneurship and the planning is already underway. “Our eyes are on the future which calls for an ecosystem in tune with the growing demands of work opportunities.”
 
Says Dr. Kumar, “we will happily achieve the set target by crossing Rs.10,000 cr turnover in the current year registering a 25-30% growth. We expect 40% jump in our growth from the next year; We are working day and night for making an elaborate agenda to plan to mobilize our resources. We have requested the government to provide us investments. We are already working with seven banks and more are likely to come in our fold and it speaks of our credibility,” Dr. Kumar added.
 
Dr. Kumar, a professional Banker and a Management Expert with Doctorate Degree in Rural Industrialization, says, the success of any effort lies in developing the mass rural base where endless opportunities lie untapped.”
NSIC which has become a idend paying corporation, also has an eye on foreign funding to lower the cost from 10% to 7%. To implement its ambitious plans, NSIC would need funding to the tune of Rs.5000 to 6000 cr. taking advantage of the Foreign Development Funds which come at a discount.

Dr. Kumar is of the view that there exists a big gap between demand and supply. “We can train people and give them relevant training but this will create demand but where is the supply – the opportunity to work and be engaged in entrepreneurial activities. The supply side has to be stepped up so that jobs are created.”

“Looking at the futuristic requirements of country vis-à-vis existing development model, we need to create an ecosystem where people can actually find work or be engaged in micro enterprises.  A support institutional mechanism has to be created for startups has to be in place. For setting up small units, resources have to be found and the only answer is financial back up by angel funding, venture funding, the banks etc.  

The NSIC's 'planning for tomorrow' includes stepping up of its efforts in covering more and more vulnerable places for setting up rapid incubation centers presently being run at 40 places.

A visionary par excellence, Dr. Kumar's regime has seen NSIC grow from strength to strength. NSIC has taken a quantum leap since he took over the reigns of the corporation registering an increase in turover from Rs.1524.10 cr (2006) to a whopping Rs.8000 cr (2010). 

He has earlier held foreign assignments with the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning of Government of Botswana.  Dr. Kumar has long experience of dealing with promotion, development and financing of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises and is a member of “National Small Business Advisory Council of South Africa” appointed by the Government of South Africa.    

Dr. Kumar has been a faculty for Damelin School of Banking, South Africa and Botswana Institute of Bankers.  He is also a member of various professional management bodies in India & abroad and is on the Governing Councils of National Institute for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Hyderabad, National Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development, Noida  and  Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE), Guwahati. Dr. Kumar is also the Co-Chairman of SME Committee of All India Management Association and an Executive Member of Standing Conference of Public Enterprises (SCOPE). He is also a member of the Governing & Technology Approval Board (GTAB) of Government of India.

Rapid Incubation 

Keeping in view the need for creating more and more self employment opportunities and for capacity building of the unemployed persons who are vulnerable in terms of lack of higher education and sound financial means, NSIC has started a new programme by providing integrated support through Rapid incubation of unemployed people in NSIC's Technical & Incubation Centres.  Rapid incubation empowers them with knowledge, infrastructure and other support services for setting up of new small enterprises in manufacturing and services sectors. NSIC's Rapid Incubation programme is one of the appropriate tools to prepare any unemployed person for entrepreneurship and to build his capacity for setting up a new enterprise. It provides necessary facilities for the prospective entrepreneurs and start-up companies to learn product manufacturing, its processes coupled with technology development, business development, financing arrangements etc. under one roof.

According to Dr. Kumar, the aim is to convert an unemployed into an entrepreneur by way of providing all support services.  The programme involves a packaged training which provides complete hand holding right from start i.e. practical on-the-job training to preparation of project reports, market survey, raw material assistance, identification and procurement of plant & machinery, credit support, testing and handing over of the project. Through this programme, the objective is to equip unemployed person with adequate technical and supervisory skills so that he or she can either support their own business or become employable to earn livelihood. This is a very useful programme considering the need of creating more and more employment opportunities in the country.

Dr. Kumar said our efforts in creating job opportunities for millions will only succeed if we are able to exploit the enormous potential in the farm sector or at the village level. “There exists a large untapped potential in food products and food process segment. We can actually produce products which are locally consumable. With the opening of MNC food chains, more opportunities will be created at the village level.”

“One thing is clear”, remarks Dr. Kumar, “opportunities and facilities will have to be brought at their doorsteps of the common man and for this we have orient their minds and make them work-ready.

We share an insight of NSIC – the organization.

Promoting & Developing Competitive MSMEs in Global Economy 

Previous years gone by have indeed been most challenging for the world economy. The unprecedented financial crisis had shaken the foundations of some of the strongest economies in the world. Though, Governments across the continents have responded speedily and in rare unison, the path to recovery is expected to be long and arduous.

India has not been immune to this shock. While at the aggregate level, our country has displayed remarkable resilience, sustaining relatively high growth rates, several sectors still had to bear the impact. Though, there were signs of a recovery, recent happenings in major economy of the world, has again given signals of recession. However, Indian MSME's inherent strengths provide a strong foundation to better withstand the expected downturn in the global economy. Globally, India commands a new respect today and is increasingly being seen as part of a new axis of economic power in the world.

Building New Competencies

Over the years, aligning with the changing economic environment, NSIC has reinforced its core strengths by building new competencies that efficiently serve the emerging needs of the MSME sector. Company has created several products that serve the MSMEs and have added new dimensions to its capability profile. NSIC has nurtured internal synergies that constitute a competitive force capable of sustaining its position at the forefront for serving the erse needs of MSME sector. NSIC has assisted hundreds of thousands of first generation entrepreneurs in setting up their small enterprises and helped them in their growth. A significant number of medium and large enterprises of today had started their businesses with the help of NSIC and have now become multi-national conglomerates. With the changing needs of MSMEs' sector due to new global business environment, NSIC has also re-oriented its various schemes for rendering assistance to the sector and making it more competitive.

The schemes of Hire Purchase and Leasing of machinery and which were the prime focus of NSIC's assistance a few years back,  have now been replaced by other innovative products which are more relevant in today's scenario. The diagrams depict in short the range of services provided by NSIC. Many developing countries are also seeking our assistance in development of small enterprise sector in their countries and replicating the Indian success story.  NSIC has been providing assistance to various developing countries in formulation of their policies for development of SMEs' sector and implementing various programmes of assistance which have already succeeded in our country. NSIC has also signed MOU with 28 countries to enhance technical and business cooperation or other forms of sustainable business relationships among Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) of India and those of developing and developed countries. 

The emphasis is on developing sustainable business relations rather than one-way transactions which is achieved through: 

(i) developing institutional arrangements and partnerships with developed countries with a view to access best practices, policy initiatives, latest technologies as well as market for MSMEs in developed economies, 

(ii) by targeting developing countries or least developed countries to widen not only market access for Indian MSMEs but also transfer of Indian technologies, plant & equipment and  sharing of Indian expertise at policy as well as at enterprise level to/ with these countries.
 
Developing Competitive MSMEs 

NSIC has been operating various schemes of assistance for providing help in marketing, technology, credit and infomediary support. These schemes are designed keeping in view the needs of the micro and small enterprises operating in various clusters or elsewhere. The schemes are user friendly with least paper work. The aim is to render assistance well in time when it is needed. We function like a professional organization in order to market our products and make them acceptable to the customers in order to be a self sustaining organization. 

In recent past, NSIC has taken many initiatives to enhance the competitiveness of MSMEs. It had introduced Performance & Credit Rating Scheme for MSMEs, which is an innovative scheme to create awareness amongst small enterprises about the strengths and weaknesses of their existing operations and to provide them an opportunity to enhance their organizational strengths and credit worthiness.

Marketing Intelligence Cell

The objective of this cell is to collect and disseminate both domestic as well as international marketing intelligence for the benefit of MSMEs as recommended by the PM's Task Force on MSME Sector. This cell, in addition to spreading awareness about various programmes/ schemes for MSMEs, will specifically maintain database and disseminate information on the following:

• Database of Bulk Buyers (Product wise) Buyers in Government / Public Sector Undertakings.
• Database of Rate Contracts of various Government Department and PSUs.
• Information on Tenders Floated by Government Department and PSUs.
• Database of Indian Exporters to various Countries with Products.
• Database of International Buyers with Products.
• Database of Technology Suppliers & Projects for MSMEs
• List of Micro & Small Enterprises registered with NSIC for Government Purchases, Raw Material Assistance, Performance & Credit Rating Schemes, and List of MSMEs Industrial Association.

This Cell provides a single point contact to collect database relating to bulk buyers in Government, Public and Private sectors, the detail of exporters, international buyers and technology suppliers. Besides, the information on trade leads and product wise buyers and sellers as well as database relating to DGS & D suppliers with prices of their products, shall also be provided by this NSIC Marketing Intelligence Cell to help MSMEs in getting appropriate information at one place and at the right time which will enable MSMEs in enhancing their ability to gauge and be at par with the global demand.

To complement this cell with latest ICT facilities and make it globally present, NSIC has very recently, launched a very comprehensive web portal (www.msmeintelligence.com) which will provide Marketing Intelligence to MSMEs, online.



International Trade through NSIC's B2B Web Portal

NSIC has launched a B2B Web Portal 'http://www.nsicindia.com' to provide online information on business opportunities and business practices in different countries to Indian enterprises. This Web Portal which is one of the most advanced technology based B2B portals also facilitates enterprises to showcase their products and services globally. Enterprises seeking business collaborations and co-production opportunities, aspiring for joint ventures, exports or imports of products and those looking for technology transfers are deriving benefits from this portal. This portal, at present, hosts database of 2.50 Lac MSMEs and has a hit rate of 80,000 hits per month.
 
Some of the salient features of this portal are:  Product specific database searches; Sector specific domestic tender notices with alert factors; Country specific global tender notices from World Bank, United Nations Organization, ILO etc.; Business Trade Leads from more than 200 countries; Automatic Match Making for Product, Services & Technology; Virtual Exhibition; Self-web development tool; Information on Global Trade Shows; WAP services for GPRS activated Mobiles; SMS Alerts; Centralized Mail System for each member; Customer Support through Call Centre etc.

NSIC has, further, strengthened this Portal with linkage to its International SME Development website, which can also be accessed on www.nsicpartners.com. The website provides a unique platform where the recognized partners of NSIC in 28 countries keep exchanging information to facilitate sustainable collaborations amongst SMEs of respective countries. The Website, being forerunner of its kind, is significantly assisting the selected International SME Support Institutions in communicating electronically and disseminating key information on Marketing, Technology and Investment opportunities to SMEs across the world.
 
NSIC's Marketing cum Business Park

NSIC is establishing Marketing cum Business Park for enterprises in New Delhi. Foundation Stone for the Park to be established in Delhi was laid by the Hon'ble Minister of MSME in the first week of August, 2011. This eco-friendly Business Park is an innovative concept of making available modern infrastructure support to provide impetus to the marketing efforts of MSMEs.  This would be an exclusive project complying to international standards which will also make available all the support services such as banking, credit, insurance, marketing facilitation and other business support services to MSMEs under one roof. This Business Park shall also be utilized for conducting National & International exhibitions and buyer-seller meets at periodical intervals to support MSMEs of India. MSMEs of India will take full advantage of the benefits of this forthcoming Infrastructure which it envisages to offer such as Office/ Marketing space at affordable rates, availability of space to showcase the MSME products and services at prime location, availability of conference facility for business meetings, Easy connectivity with all major commercial centers, close proximity to one of the most vibrant industrial estates, availability of NSIC's schemes and services. Recently, NSIC established a similar state-of-the-art Marketing-cum-Business Park at Hyderabad to provide infrastructural Marketing support to MSMEs of South India.
 
Realizing New Paradigm of High Growth

Unprecedented opportunities for growth in India are unfolding, making our continent a powerful engine of global economic growth. NSIC's primary focus at this stage is to create new fountainheads of value creation for MSMEs within India, while continuing to expand the existing flanks of value creation for the MSME sector. 

The path to realizing a new paradigm of high growth is strewn with several fundamental challenges. The most critical factor in the longevity of an organization is its internal vitality, namely the capacity to remain relevant and contemporary, its ability to anticipate and proactively manage change and its agility to continuously reinvent and reinvigorate itselfThis entire para copied from one of my previous articles.  I am honored!!! We have to delete this para..  NSIC's sustained growth in the last five years is testimony to Company's organizational vitality. 

It is also manifest in NSIC's strategy of organization, its climate of professionalism and its time-tested caring culture and growing contribution to win over the MSMEs. NSIC has successfully integrated Vision, Values and Vitality in a distinctive blend that   shall significantly enhance its potential for the larger society. The compelling Vision of enlarging its contribution to the Indian MSMEs has been a source of inspiration for NSIC in this long and fulfilling journey. NSIC's core values are embedded in its philosophy of trusteeship and the related belief that enterprises exist to serve society. An unwavering commitment to integrity, ethical conduct, meritocracy, team work and an abiding concern for stakeholders are at the heart of NSIC's core values. NSIC's Vision provides the overarching inspiration; its values serve to guide thought and action; and its Vitality enables excellence in strategy formulation and execution. Together, they shall continue to form the core inner strength of NSIC for creating growing value for all its stakeholders. 
An ignited corporation is a self-energized body that sets out to outperform itself. NSIC will become far stronger in the years to come. However, the stronger we grow, the more humble we feel.