BENGALURU ROUND UP

Reliance Commercial Finance in partnership with Sustainable Development Research & Consulting organised the sixth edition of the India SME Forum and Award under a series titled "India SME Forum - Sustainable, Competitiveness and Growth, Profitably" that is now being held across the country.
The Forum took place on 11th September 2012 at ITC Windsor Bengaluru, located by the historic landmark Vidhana Soudha, The Windsor is a 5 star hotel in Bengaluru that merges an old world ambience with international service to create a luxury hotel that has long acquired a reputation of playing host to the aristocracy of the world.
The event was attended by over 200 Small and Medium business owners from Karnataka, which included over 40 women entrepreneurs.
M. C. Dinesh, Member, Central Executive Committee of FISME welcomed the guests with a rousing opening address.
Vinod Kumar, Senior Partner at SDRC, ISF Jury Board Member offered a vote of thanks to the attending delegates.
The highlight of the event is the participation of the 12 SME based associations in and around Karnataka namely-
>> All India Granites and Stone Association (AIGSA)
>> Association of Women Entrepreneurs of Karnataka (AWAKE)
>> Consortium of Electronic Industries of Karnataka (CLIK)
>> Confederation of Real Estate Associates (CREA),
>> Electronic City Industries Association (ECIA)
>> Engineering Manufacturer Entrepreneurs Resource Group (EMERGE)
>> Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce Industry (FKCCI)
>> Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME)
>> Karnataka Small Scale Industries Association (KASSIA)
>> Laghu Udyog Bharati (LUB)
>> Peenya Industries Association (PIA) and
>> Tool and Gauge Manufacturers Association of India (TAGMA).


The head of the above mentioned organisations lighted the lamp and were felicitated by Mr M. C. Dinesh with bouquets.
The other highlight of the Bengaluru edition was the interactive nature of the sessions - there was an inclusive discussion between panellists and the attending SME heads. Some of the panellists decided to forego their presentations in order to drive the healthy discussion. (The presentations will be available on the www.indiasmeforum.com website to members).
The participating SMEs pointed out issues effecting their growth and sought solutions from the industry experts & gurus at the forums; also debated on their suggestions & solutions.
In the First Session, the experts shared their knowledge and experience about the benefits of creating a Brand and using IT to create value. Panellists included Nikhil Nehru, Advertising & Communication Guru; Shashi Ravulapaty, CTO, Reliance Capital; Naveen Tripathi, CEO at Mercury Designs; Sunder Madakshira, VP for Marketing & Communications at SAP Labs India; NitinBhandari, AVP New Products at Vodafone and moderated by Vinod Kumar, Senior partner at SDRC.
Nikhil Nehru, Advertising & Communication Guru the key speaker for the session elaborated on the requirement for SMEs to engage the young consumers by strategic branding.
Sundar Madakshira, while attending the query of a young woman entrepreneur who was battling with the mind-set of her in-laws' rigidity against branding their 30 year old company, suggested that he personally would not work for an organization owned by 40 plus entrepreneur, as their mind set was less open to change after so many years in the business. At the same time he advised the young lady that she should try to mould the thinking of her in laws by introducing changes on a small scale, steps by step.
Panel moderator, Vinod Kumar, Senior partner at SDRC announced that India SME Forum shall list Market Makers on its site in the near future-providing consultancy and support for being able to list IPOs, seek VC funding or Angel Funding via the Forum's official website www.indiasmeforum.org.
The session consisted of panellists K V Srinivasan, CEO at Reliance Commercial Finance; Ravi Tyagi, Head of SME Projects at National Stock Exchange; SandeepSabharwal, CEO of Portfolio Management Services at PrabhudasLiladher P. L. and Mr. N. Muthuraman, Director, Riverbridge Investment Advisors P. Ltd.
During this session one of the participating SMEs raised the issue that though SME sector was recognised as a "priority sector" and came at par with agriculture, why is that the interest rates charged for the first sector differs from the second. Parity would help SMEs access cheaper finance!
The forum recognized the need for SME businesses and associations to come together & work jointly, so larger numbers can give them a bigger voice for representation to the government bodies and lobby for positive change. Thus the forum became the base of 'Unity &Strength' with the participating associations coming together to support the movement for joint action.
Further M. C. Dinesh, Member at Central Executive Committee at FISME acknowledged the initiatives taken by the head of the local organization to come together under this Forum and exhibit their 'Unity & Strength'.
In the post-lunch session, MSME entrepreneurs present at the event got an opportunity to interact one-to-one with the various panellists, network with them and each other and get their opinion heard or doubts cleared.
The event was held in association with FISME, Go Air, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bloomberg TV, SDRC.