Almost 40% of India’s work force is in the SME segment and produce a wide variety of products including some very sophisticated and technologically complex products. They are not restricted to any region and are spread over the entire country. Despite India’s romance with leftism, socialism and planned economy the SMBs have emerged as a highly vibrant and dynamic sector of the economy. The SME sector accounts for 1/3rd of the economy and GDP. SME’s account for little less than half of the entire industrial production. Not just that, they account for 40% of India’s exports. 95% of the industrial units in India are SMEs and they account for about 1/6th of the bank credit
Surveys are regularly conducted by many organizations. One of the famous one is conducted by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on SME Business Confidence Index (BCI) every quarter. It is done on the basis of 14 exhaustive outlook indicators such as gross sales, credit availability, new orders, export, capacity utilization input costs, investments, and net profit.
The regular survey and studies have revealed many useful data points that are useful to the members of the Indian industry, academicians and bureaucrats. The value of SME Business Confidence Index (BCI) is measured for the outlook indicators by a survey method and the results are tabulated and shared. This survey helps to identify the collective opinion of the members on 14 indicators. The data shared is helpful to the businesses as well as government to plan for the near future.
In addition to the CII there are other government, private and association sites that conduct survey of business situation. Some even provide economic and business forecasts. There is another famous industrial organization and this is called as FICCI which stands for Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry. In addition, there are institutions like National Institute for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (NI-MSME) which provide training, based on extensive research. India has a separate ministry for MSMEs and it is called the Ministry Of Micro, Small And Medium Enterprises.
The SMEs are very vibrant and have shown are remarkable track record of bouncing back from the various calamities they have faced. A large country with diverse population and unique needs favors their existence. They have been able to understand the local customers and deliver products better than many large firms.
In general, the longer term outlook for the SME sector is very bouyant. This is based on the past history of this segment and the vibrancy and strength of the businesses in thriving in the fast moving economies of today.