News & Analysis

MSMEs Could Play a Crucial Role in Farm Sector

Image courtesy: Asian Age

Sounds far fetched? A closer look reveals that this is not so as over the years the MSMEs have played a robust role in India’s development as a country that exports finished goods and not raw materials. And, if we were to stretch this logic a bit further, this segment of our economy can be the harbinger of India emerging as a global processed food giant. 

India has had good monsoons three years in succession, which means there has been robust growth in farm output. This is where now the SMEs should be seeing a new opportunity as they can pitch in towards creating all the linkages between the farmgate to the consumer, by way of creating food chains, says Aniruddh Singh, formerly Group HR of GHCL Ltd. 

We have missed several buses in the past. This is one we should not miss as India has the potential of becoming the world’s supplier of MSME goods while also ensuring that our farmers get the best possible remunerations for their produce, he says in a chat with us on our MSME Matters program. 

Singh also highlights another important facet here. The large companies require a huge capital to set up plants and machinery with the threat of obsolescence continuously staring them in the face. This is not so for the MSMEs who can be nimble enough to shift between products with a much smaller capital infusion. “And this is exactly what the government of the day should be doing with respect to the small and medium businesses,” he adds. 

In fact, the government should look to do a complete refresh of the Indian farm sector. I think the micro, small and medium enterprises should be established at the tehsil levels. Food processing units around the country would be a simple yet effective way of adding value to farm produce for the mutual benefit of farmers and overall export growth. 

Handing out subsidies that are unproductive should be replaced towards subsidies that could be generating entrepreneurs in the economy. Capacity generation should now be the focus of the government and we should now seriously consider positioning India as the food provider of the world. This could be the next phase of Incredible India, he adds. 

Catch the full interview with Aniruddh Singh right here. Please leave your message for us on our YouTube channel. 

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