Business Development Services & National Outreach

The Indian MSME sector is dynamic in terms of its potential for growth and expansion. If nurtured with technical know-how, innovation and creativity, this sector can overcome the challenges facing it and emerge as a much stronger element in a developing economy, thus leading to a balanced socio-economic growth.

The MSME sector is the cornerstone of the Indian economy. The sector’s contribution to the economy of the country in terms of employment generation is commendable. However, despite its winning attributes, the MSME sector faces challenges like lack of adequate credit, limited access to financial services, limited technical capability and so on. While the Government’s initiatives are focussed on assigning a prominent place to the sector, EDII is playing an important role in boosting the MSME sector through the Department of Business Development Services and National Outreach. The Business Development Services (BDS) help MSMEs meet non-financial needs and handhold MSMEs through the phases of incorporation, operation and expansion. EDII has pioneered the Cluster Development Model which involves tailor-made revivification strategy for various artisanal and industrial clusters. Till now, over 200 artisanal and industrial clusters have been addressed.

EDII seeks to reach out through BDS to industrial clusters across India so that it can share its resource pool of experience and expertise in MSME development. In addition to playing a strategic role in asset-creation of entrepreneurial ventures, BDS is also transactional in nature dealing with accounting, statutory compliances, technical troubleshooting / improvement, pollution-abatement, strategic production, financial dealings, market, systems and procedures, etc. Given its expertise and experience in these areas, EDII nurtures the BDS market from a nascent stage to a burgeoning one.

Major Highlights:

• Implementation, Monitoring and Technical Support extended to more than 200 industrial and artisanal clusters, across the country.
• Instituting cadres of Cluster Development Executives and Business Development Service Providers to help sustain the efforts.
• Setting up Institutes/Centres for Entrepreneurship Development (IEDs/CEDs) across states.
• Undertaking capacity building of existing IEDs/CEDs and the onus of developing resource persons for them through specially designed programmes.
• Influencing all state governments to set up IEDs/CEDs under a concept-to-completion approach.
• Sensitizing the state, regional and local governments on the significance of promoting entrepreneurship and adding pace to the start up trend.

The Year 2020 -21:

• Provide solutions essential for MSMEs to learn and acquire new operations, marketing, management, resourcing, technology & innovation and digital skills.
• Short-term training programmes and management development programmes for entrepreneurs and managers to equip them with skills to offer productivity and quality improvement solutions across the value chain.
• Forge strategic alliances and continue to initiate a wide range of knowledge dissemination activities through capacity building, training and education.
• Holistic development of clusters across the country.
• Developmental and training activities for existing/potential entrepreneurs, officials of support system, and professionals/resource persons to strengthen development support available to SMEs nationally.