MSME and Startups Drivers of Atma Nirbhar Bharat
Published on : Friday 06-08-2021
Darshana Thakkar on how MSMEs can drive India towards becoming Atma Nirbhar to celebrate independence in the true sense.
August 15, 1947 – our nation Bharat become independent from the British. August 15 is celebrated every year as Independence Day.
India is the second most-populous country after China, with a population of over 1.39 billion (139 crore) as of 2020. India being a young country with a median age of 28.42 years means that half of the population is younger than 28 years.
With such a huge young population in our country, unemployment is also a big challenge. We are one of the largest emerging economies, and huge opportunities for our youth lie in innovation and self-employment.
The Covid-19 pandemic began in March 2020, and since then the worlds economy has been in tatters due to the resulting health and economic shocks. To deal with the pandemic, countries around the world imposed strict lockdowns on the movement of people, international travel and on transportation of goods and services to minimise the threat to health and safety. This has resulted in many industries and organisations either being shut down or operating at minimum capacity, and the effects are visible globally. The disrupted global supply chain created a trauma-like situation with an already depressed industry. Non-availability of input materials from other countries and regions became a major challenge for companies to continue their operations.
To address the economic challenge, on May 12, 2020, our Prime Minister unveiled the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan (Self-reliant India Campaign), under which he announced an overall economic package worth Rs. 20 lakh crore (USD 280 billion),which amounts to 10 percent of Indias GDP, with emphasis on making India a self-reliant nation. This package ranks among the biggest in the world.
The micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) which is the second-largest employment generating sector employing around 11 crore people and innovative Startups are on the driving seat of the Atma Nirbhar Bharat.
This means that India will:
1. Reduce its over-dependence on other countries for trade by focusing on inward manufacturing.
2. Promote Indian products, brands, and services by becoming Vocal For Local, and
3. Continue to trade with other countries but aim to eliminate trade imbalances and, where possible, adopt a mercantilist approach to international trade.
The most important element of the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan is that neither India will cut off itself from the rest of the world, nor will it adopt anti-trade policies of protectionism. Rather, India will identify and promote industries and sectors where it has the potential and capability to scale up and be globally competitive.
The Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan is a chance for Indian start-ups and MSMEs to take charge of the innovations for which we are usually dependent on global suppliers. We can lead the way by innovating and bringing to market products and services that are world-class yet affordable. We Indians are quick to spot opportunities in adversities and innovate in limited time and budget to make competitive products. Start-ups in sectors like automation, fin-tech, supply chain, logistics, healthcare, etc., would lead the charge in the mission.
My story for this month is focused on the same theme to support and motivate our youth and start-ups and to inspire our young citizens for starting innovative projects in various sectors to make India self-reliant in all aspects.
It is said that every crisis brings with it an opportunity. Likewise, the Covid-19 pandemic brought with it an opportunity for India, to become Atma Nirbhar.
During the beginning of lockdown, there was a shortage of many necessary things like PPE kits, face masks, sanitizers, and even ventilators to treat the patients.
Many of our industrialists converted this challenge into an opportunity.
1. Many companies have diversified or added product lines to manufacture sanitizers.
2. Garment companies have started manufacturing masks and PPE kits.
3. Other small companies have started manufacturing foot-operated or automatic sanitizer dispensers.
4. Few engineering companies have converted their plants to manufacture ventilators.
This way our MSME has played an important role in supporting the nation in the time of crises apart from grabbing an opportunity to generate revenue. Likewise, many innovations have taken place in our country during the last few years. These innovators are not only providing a solution to the problems faced by the society but also generating employment for themselves and others.
I would like to quote herewith a few cases of such innovations that I have known very closely and supported in my professional capacity.
DIGI Task
Due to the pandemic, organisations are now forced to work on a hybrid work model including work from home or remote work. In such a situation tracking, monitoring and timely completion of tasks are difficult to manage activities. In MSME organisations, where appropriate software solution is not available, there is chaos to manage multiple business activities. To compile data stored in a different forms for different tasks and to monitor deadlines is a big challenge for supervisors, managers and business owners.
Digi Task is an affordable software solution to make all the organisational tasks accountable. Digi Task helps to:
1. Allocate task
2. Check active users
3. Pending task, and
4. Delayed task
Digi Task also provides:
1. Linking of various tasks assigned to different users
2. Time tracking, and
3. Management reports to get insights into productivity, pending and overdue tasks.
The most attractive feature I like in Digi Task is that it is accessible from the web as well as the mobile phone. That makes it possible for employees working from remote locations as well on site.
The specialty that attracted me, and might attract other MSME organisations as well, is the pricing plans of Digi Task. It starts with as low as Rs 95/- per user per month, which can be further reduced with an increase in no of users.
I congratulate and wish good luck to Mr Mudit Kothari, the founder of Digi Task.
HyLyt
In the time of technology with an abundance of data on different devices like PC, mobile phone and cloud, it is very difficult to find important information from data scattered in the system. Waste of time, waste of opportunity, and loss of security may be the results. Apart from all this, security and privacy of data shared within a team is at stake. What to do?
HyLyt is a unified management and collaboration platform, an innovative B2B SaaS, developed under the leadership of seasoned entrepreneur Mr Rajat Singhania.
HyLyt works on top of multiple apps and data silos to converse and collaborate with controls for teams to enhance productivity. It prevents data leakages and gets a 360-degree view of all information that matters in one place.
HyLyt can solve pain points with:
a. Integrated Information Management
b. Information Rights Management.
c. Secured and Private Business Communication & Collaboration.
d. Increased User Productivity.
How does HyLyt work?
Read – Data from any source be it a Browser, Email, Whats App, LinkedIn, Facebook, or any other App, Just to tap is the way to save the data.
Link – All the data from different places are saved to one place and interconnected.
Share – Extracting the right information at the right time and sharing whenever required is easier than ever before.
Multiple functionality, dingle platform – that is the beauty of HyLyt!
Orgro Fibre
Single-use plastic accounts for about 36 percent of total plastic production and represents the largest use of plastic. As single-use plastic is meant for disposal and because of its volume, it is the most visible and problematic type of plastic pollution. We cannot solve the problem of single-use plastic using the 3R Strategy – reduce, reuse, recycle – because this type of plastic is not designed to be reused and is difficult and uneconomical to recycle. Further, the management of plastic waste assumes that there is efficient recovery, which is not present in most developing countries also. We need to expand the 3Rs to the 5Rs – redesign, reduce, reuse, recover, recycle.
To overcome such a big challenge of managing single-use plastics, entrepreneurs from Gujarat with the support of Government of India have come forward with the solution as a name Orgro.
After 4 years of extensive research and support by the ICAR – Indian Council of Agricultural Research – Government of India, Team Orgro has developed a holistic eco-friendly solution to replace plastic sapling bags, packaging and even carpeting.
Orgro in collaboration with ABIC (Agri-Business Incubation Centre) of ICAR-CSWRI (Indian Council for Agricultural Research – Central Sheep and Wool Research Institute) has innovated biodegradable packaging material made up of agricultural waste. This methodology helps to make bio-based material products that can easily decompose and nullify the possibility of any form of pollution with its usage. Made from 100 percent biodegradable materials, the sapling bags are made of wool, jute, banana, and sugarcane waste.
This Indian startup is in the development stage and the products are under field testing with the following reputed institutes:
1. Gujarat State Forest Department
2. Kerala State Forest Department
3. Brett Corporation – the largest farming company of Australia, and
4. Jeevaniya, Lakhnau, UP State.
The founder of Orgro, Mr Gaurav Parmar and his team members are ambitious to remove single-use plastic waste from India.
In conclusion, the only thing I would like to express is we are proudly Indian and are having many startups like the three mentioned above. The MSMEs can drive India towards becoming Atma Nirbhar to celebrate independence in the true sense. We, the citizens of India have to support one another by using as many local and made in India solutions as possible. Be vocal for local.
Jai Hind!
Darshana Thakkar is MSME Transformation Specialist and Founder, Transformation – The Strategy Hub. An Electrical Engineer followed by MBA – Operations with rich industry experience, Darshana is an expert in transformation, cost reduction, and utilisation of resources. She has invested 25 years in transforming Micro and Small Enterprises. Her rich experience in resolving pain areas and real-life problems of SMEs helps organisations achieve quick results. Her expertise in managing business operations with limited resources helps clients transform their business practices from person driven to system driven with existing resources.
Darshana has helped many organisations to increase profitability and achieve sustainable growth. She is passionate to support the start-up ecosystem of our country. She is associated with CED, Government of Gujarat as a Business Function Expert in the Entrepreneurship Development program, as faculty for industrial subjects in the Second Generation Program (SGP), and as a start-up mentor and member of the start-up selection committee in the CED incubation centre.
