ET Make in India SME Regional Summit to enter Ahmedabad on December 20

The ET Make in India SME Regional Summit will host its next session in Ahmedabad on December 20. An important industrial hub of Western India, Ahmedabad is one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. Its economic growth can be attributed to its conductive ecosystem towards a range of sectors such as manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, gems, and jewellery, etc.

As per the Udyam portal, Ahmedabad has the highest number of MSMEs in the state- 4,54,750. Out of these, 4,33,427 entities are micro businesses, 19,072 small businesses and 2,251 medium businesses.

Click here to register for the Ahmedabad event

ET Make in India SME Regional Summit is a series of on-ground events held across India to bring together local MSMEs, policymakers, enablers, and industry stakeholders. These summits aim to unravel opportunities, tackle challenges, and foster knowledge-sharing and networking to propel the next phase of growth for Indian MSMEs.

The Ahmedabad summit will start with a keynote address by RD Barhatt, Joint Commissioner of Industries, Government of Gujarat on the topic- ‘Empowering MSMEs: The role Government of Gujarat is playing in driving growth and innovation’.

This will be followed by an exclusive fireside chat with Santanu Basu, Head, SME – Aditya Birla Finance Limited, where he will talk about ABFL’s vision and support to empower MSMEs. The topic of this chat will be ‘Empowering MSMEs and Driving Financial Inclusion: ABFL’s Vision for India’s Growth.’
There will be a panel discussion discussing how the state of Gujarat will be India’s next big hub for the Information Technology and finance sector. The topic- ‘Gujarat's next big ‘GIFT’ to India’ will see an engaging discussion by industry leaders and association heads. The panel members here include Darshana Thakkar, National President, Entrepreneurship Development Council, Women’s Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (WICCI); Ajit N Shah, Executive Committee Member, Federation of Industries and Associations (Gujarat); and JitendraKumar D. Panchal, Joint Secretary, Ahmedabad Engineering Manufacturers Association.

This will be followed by another engaging panel discussion on the topic- New-age technologies for SMEs to future proof their businesses. The panel members here include Ankur Patel, Director, Orange Technolab Pvt Ltd; Mukul Goyal, Co-founder, Stratefix; and Pulkit Dhingra, Founder and Director, Aha Solar.

The SME Summit will also serve as a platform providing networking opportunities to local small businesses and industry leaders. They can engage, connect, and have an open dialogue.

This endeavour will be conducted under the theme of “Empowering MSMEs: Driving India's Century of Sustainable Growth”, to champion, acknowledge and fortify the Indian MSME sector. It will be conducted by Economictimes.com with Aditya Birla Finance Limited (ABFL) as the presenting partner, iNDEXTb as state partner, Orange Technolab Pvt Ltd as tech enabler, Stratefix as a business consulting partner and powered by Magma. Each summit will comprise a diverse array of discussions and sessions, including panel discussions, masterclasses, and showcases of MSME solutions.

This is the second annual edition of the ET Make in India Regional Summit series. In the inaugural year, the programme covered Ahmedabad, Chennai, and Hyderabad. The events saw a stellar turnout. The previous edition’s theme was to enable the rise of future-ready MSMEs that can power the nation’s India@100 dream.

Click here to register for the Ahmedabad event