The two-day conclave is titled “Competence Building for Manufacturing, emphasizing MSMEs and Annual MSME Awards”.

The tenth edition of the Chamber's  annual MSME Excellence Award programme titled “The Bengal Chamber Awards on Achieving Excellence for MSMEs” is also part of the conclave.

The first day of the conclave was devoted to Engineering/Manufacturing Case Study Presentations and the Annual MSME Excellence Award Programme was held on the second day.

The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sector has emerged as a highly vibrant and dynamic sector of the global economy, especially in the Indian economy over the last couple of decades, the organisers said.

The Chamber also highlighted that MSMEs play a pivotal role in providing large employment opportunities at comparatively lower capital Investment than larger industries and also help in industrialization of rural /underdeveloped areas.

They are complementary to large industries mostly working as ancillary units and contribute enormously to the socio-economic development of the country.

The sector consisting of 36 million units approximately provides employment to about 80 million persons.

The sector makes more than 8,000 products and contributes about 8% to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) besides 45% to the total industrial output and 40% to the exports of India, the Chamber said in a release.

The labour to Capital ration in MSMEs and the overall growth are much higher compared to larger industries and geographically the distribution of MSMEs is more even across the country. They have the potential to spearhead industrial growth across the country and could be a major partner in the process of inclusive growth. 

MSMEs are the fountain heads of several innovations in manufacturing and service sectors and they are a major link in the supply chain to corporates and the PSUs.

The objective of the Chamber in organizing the Award Programme is to showcase the excellent practices prevailing in the manufacturing and service sectors for the MSMEs and along with create a forum for sharing of knowledge, experiences and know-how in areas like engineering, manufacturing, technology, services and related aspects.