Ahmedabad, October 10, 2022: Hon’ble Shri Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma, Union Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), Govt. of India visited the Institute for an interactive session on entrepreneurship and MSME Related Projects.
Hon’ble Minister interacted with industry officials, academia and EDII officials on various MSME and entrepreneurship related projects, and congratulated EDII’s team of faculty members for nurturing entrepreneurship among various segments, sectors and clusters through well-curated interventions. The Minister noted how the interventions had led to setting up of enterprises and how the new grassroots entrepreneurs, were being helped in connecting with the markets, new customers through innovative ways and means.
The Minister said, “I think I would be right in assuming, and announcing, that growth in the MSME sector is profound, and is manifesting itself in many ways all across the country. Government is focussed on giving wings to the MSME sector, especially after COVID when the sector was quite noticeably affected. The MSME environment is renewing and reviving to become more upbeat than ever.”
Hon’ble Minister appreciated EDII for ensuring that the Indian MSME industry embraces a host of novel approaches and techniques, right from procurement of raw materials, introducing innovations to exploring new avenues for sale of products, to dealing with competition. Highlighting some of the schemes in which EDII is working, the Minister said, “The Institute has worked for last 40 years with the mission of upscaling the MSME sector. EDII’s work for potential and existing entrepreneurs and in the artisanal and industrial clusters across the country has been outcome-based. It has been playing a crucial role in sensitising and building capacities of youth and MSME entrepreneurs under the Entrepreneurship & Skill Development Programme (ESDP) scheme of the Ministry. Apart from structuring MSME clusters, EDII has also ensured a supportive institutional mechanism to nurture the culture of research development and innovation. I look forward to EDII playing the role of Mentor Institute for ASPIRE scheme of the Ministry, and facilitate strengthening of rural and agro incubation ecosystem by establishing Livelihood Business Incubators.”
Emphasising on enhancing the role of accelerators and incubators, the Minister said that Incubators are needed for creating a supportive environment and help new enterprises overcome their vulnerability and enhance competitiveness.
