Simergence 2010

SIMERGENCE is an annual academia-industry interface organized by SIMSREE where the stalwarts of the Business and Industrial world come together with the students to discuss matters concerning current business trends. SIMERGENCE is unique because it is an attempt by students to create a platform where the industry stalwarts address Corporate India. Students aim to not only extract an academic benefit but also to gain real hands on experience of organizing a corporate event.

India Today: A Store House of Untapped Potential

Emerging SMEs, Energising India

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Population increase need not always be a cause for worry, if we successfully educate the increased population and provide opportunities for full gainful employment. A young population, engaged in productive activities, is a great demographic advantage, wealth creator and a major driver of economic growth of a country. "On the other hand, if we fail to educate them and to provide them with appropriate employment opportunities, there is arises a real danger that they will take to lawlessness, terrorism and other antisocial activities," warns Governor Sankaranarayanan.

The SIMSREE Director Dr Rajan Welukar welcomed the Governor and other dignitaries. Mr Dilip Dandekar, Incoming President, IMC and Chairman & Managing Director, Camlin gave his presentation on the SME sector from the Corporate perspective.

The Governor was inaugurating a day-long conclave 'SIM'ergence -2010' on the twin themes: "(a) India Today -- Storehouse of Untapped Potential, and (b) Emerging SMEs --Energizing India" The conference was organized jointly by Indian Merchants Chamber and Sydenham Institute of Management Studies, Research, Entrepreneurship and Education ( Simsree) at the BSE Convention Centre in Mumbai on March 11.

Other speakers at the conclave included Mr Rajesh Ankushrao Tope, Maharashtra Minister for Higher & Technical Education; Mr J S Saharia, Principal Secretary for Higher & Technical Education; Mr. Ajay Piramal, Head of the Piramal Group; Mr. G. Chandrashekhar, Associate Editor of The Hindu Business Line; Mr Suresh Kotak, Chairman, Kotak & Co. Ltd.; Mr. Shailesh Haribhakti, Managing Partner, Haribhakti & Co.; Mr. Deepak Doshi, President, Indian Small Scale Paint Association; Mr. Manish Dhameja, SME Head of Standard Chartered Bank; Mr. Sanjiv Saraff, Vice President of ICICI Securities; Mr. Amarjeet Singh, Chief Investment Officer, Indiabulls Asset Management Co.; Mr. Mahesh Balasubramaniam – Executive VP, Kotak Mahindra Bank; Mr. Anuj Bhargava - Management and IT Consultant; Mr. Sudhir Kapadia – Tax partner, Ernst and Young India; Mr. S. Venkataraman - Senior Director - Research, CRISIL; Mr. Ashish Bhasin- Aegis Media, Chairman India and CEO South East Asia also spoke

With reference to the issue "Is the population rise a boon or a bane?", which was also referred to earlier by Minister Rajesh Tope in his speech, the Governor said India consisted of many States -- some of which, like Kerala, were quite advanced and fully literate; while others, like Jharkhand, which was rich in natural endowments, remained backward in respect of education and economic development.

Mr Sankaranarayanan said that 60% of Indian population living in interior rural and tribal areas depended on 54 % of the country's land resources for livelihood. They had little facility by way of physical and social infrastructures such as road transports, banks, markets, schools and hospitals. Unless, determined efforts to extend these facilities to them were undertaken, the educated few among them would take to terrorism.”Only, a long-term political vision and strong political will can improve the situation and enable backward States to catch up with the progressive ones," the Governor said.

Mr Rajesh Tope said that the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs ) were uniquely Indian and had great relevance to India's diverse socioeconomic conditions. There were more than three million SMEs in India, employing 42 million people, contributing 50% of the total manufacturing output and 40% of the total exports.

"In addition, MSMEs are the cradle, which not only nurture enterprise, but also extend strong support to large enterprises by playing the role of supplier of ancillaries, raw materials, semi-finished goods, and packaging besides also being a major consumer of finished products of the large units. Both the RBI and the Central and State governments have come up with many schemes which ensure them smooth credit flow, and bolster their economies through fiscal concessions and technical support," he said.
India was historically a knowledge-driven nation. If only the untapped potential of rural and tribal areas was harnessed by imparting education and training to people and by providing basic physical and social infrastructures, the nation could easily emerge as a developed nation. India, with its 15-to-35 years age group population accounting for 50% of the total, was indeed a country of youths. The bursting energy of this large youth population could become a boon if it was educated, trained and harnessed productively; or become a bane if ignored and remained unharnessed.

Even in the schooling stage between the standards 1 and 11 or 12, the student dropout rate was as high as 50% to 60% in Maharashtra. Also, only about 25% of the students graduating from the colleges usually succeed in getting employment, leaving behind the remaining 75% students in the cold. "To end this sorry state of affairs, both the Central and Maharashtra Governments were taking steps. Our country's 11th Five-year Plan has raised the education budget from a mere Rs.10, 000 crore to a staggering Rs. 90,000 crore. The Centre has set up four new Universities, eight IITs, seven IIMs, and five Indian Institutes of Science." The Maharashtra Government was also taking steps for making higher education syllabuses uniform, relevant and globally competitive, especially keeping in mind the possibility of entry of foreign universities into the Indian education system.
Mr Rajesh Tope concluded with an advice to the management students:" You must not become job-seekers, but must strive to become entrepreneurs and job providers. You must become competent managers only on the strength of your strong ethical values, not by sacrificing those values."

Earlier Mr J S Saharia said the young population in India would account for 50% of the total until around 2050. For imparting right kind of education and training for this large young population, for creating the necessary physical and social infrastructures and also for generating millions of employment opportunities for absorbing the educated youths, both the Central and state governments had taken many initiatives.

"But the main challenges against these initiatives would be budgetary constraints, poor physical and social infrastructures, and availability of qualified members of faculty. You, the students of MBA and MMS studying at SIMSREE, are the privileged few among the vast majority of youths in the country, who do not have such an opportunity. Therefore, when you get employment, you must always keep the national agenda first , and your personal agenda next,", he said.

The Maharashtra government had increased annual allocation from a mere Rs.40 crore to Rs.500 crore last year for bridging the shortage in the field of physical infrastructure for higher and technical education.

Mr Dilip Dandekar said that due emphasis on the growth needs of the MSME sector should have been provided right from the beginning of the economic reforms process in the country. The growth of MSMEs suffered due to technological obsolescence, lack of finance, procedure hassles, high transaction costs etc.

Mr Dandekar said that IMC's Economic Research & Training foundation (ERTF) would soon bring out publication on "Government Schemes & Policies for MSMEs" for creating wider awareness of various schemes, policies etc. to public.
Mr Ajay Piramal said India had entered an unprecedented growth phase and the next 30 years would be the best in the past many centuries. “Educated young men and women like you will be in your prime working life during this most fortunate and historic phase in the national life, when India is expected to be among the richest nations in the world," he said.

He said 65% of India's population was now under the productive age of 35. With enterprise, vision and perseverance, they had the vast opportunities to drive the national growth. "It is utmost important to harness the untapped potential of the youth for national good. Similar untapped growth potential also lay in the rural India, where demand for sophisticated products was insatiable, thanks to the government schemes such NREGA, loan waiver for farmers.

Mr. Piramal called upon the educated youth: " Adopt a positive mindset, set your sights high in life, act with courage, conviction, and integrity and yet with utmost humility, and you will be able to shape India's destiny in the many decades to come." He said, “India's great grammarian, Panini, when told by an astrologer that the absence of any indicative lines on his palm only suggested that he had no bright future, he drew out a knife and cut a vertical line of fortune on his palm! And the rest is history."