India’s MSME Champions Portal— An Analysis

Source: knnindia.in

A look at India’s MSME Champions Portal, it’s benefits to various stakeholders and some areas for improvement…

MSMEs comprise 30% of India’s GDP and offer employment to around 15 crore individuals. There are over 70 million MSMEs in India. Now, for MSMEs to scale and contribute further to the economy, they require support and information on the following fronts:

• Finances and Taxation: What loan schemes is my firm eligible for? What’s the procedure to avail various benefits? What’s the taxation and GST policy?
• People and Processes: What labour laws should my firm comply with? From where can my firm source certain raw materials? Is there any facility available for processing and working on materials? How can I learn about new-age technology? How can I access new-age technology without investing in expensive equipment?
• Marketing: How can my firm convey its product portfolio to the masses?
• Clients and Customers: Is there a way to reach a greater market? How can my firm capture greater opportunities and clients?
• Redressal: Who should I contact to sort out various issues?

But, with a highly scattered distribution of a large number of MSMEs, poor documentation, multiple portals and sites addressing various schemes, there‘s too much hassle in satisfying requirements. Complaints could be lodged at MSME SAMADHAAN and CPGRAMS amongst others and these individual redressal mechanisms thus far have not been very efficient, having suffered from accountability issues. The industry realized the need to have a streamlined portal that can serve as a one-stop-shop for all MSME-related needs. Thus, the Government introduced MSME Champions in May 2020.

What is MSME Champions?

Champions is a technology-driven control-room cum MIS platform that aims to scale MSMEs by offering guidance in navigating issues surrounding finances, raw materials, labour amongst others, attracting opportunities and identifying best performers.

It operates following a hub-and-spoke model, with its central control rooms located in New Delhi. It is powered by ICT tools along with technologies like AI and ML which can help in real-time grievance redressal (for example, through AI-enabled chatboxes).

What are its Benefits?

For MSMEs:

• Access to Information

The Champions portal serves as a leveller of the playing field by circumventing the information asymmetry. Not all companies may be aware of the appropriate locations to access information and by positioning all updates and facts onto one site, MSMEs are all afforded the relevant facts they need to avail benefits and grow. Schemes/Acts/Rules, Starter’s Schemes, Existing Schemes are some of the relevant tabs on this. Control Rooms present across the country are displayed on the platform too.

• Guidance

Both active and passive guidance is provided to MSMEs. Resources for Champions is a repository of plenty of helpful documents on how the Government has handled the pandemic and handbooks for MSMEs. They can seek out mentors via this portal as well. The Seek Guidance portal is an active mechanism for MSMEs to consult officials on specific issues. Such a form of handholding and guidance is highly beneficial, especially during times like these.

• Convenience

By collating all MSME-related facts, portals and forms into one website, Champions greatly enhances ease of access for MSMEs. All they have to do is browse through the site, fill up some forms

• Grievance Redressal

The portal is designed with AI-enabled chatboxes for real-time grievance redressal and complaints are routed to the corresponding offices within 3 days. Cases pending for over 7 days are to be proactively taken up by top management for resolution. This is of immense benefit to MSMEs who would otherwise have to expend a considerable amount of time and effort, and money as well, in ensuring resolution.

Within 8 days of launch, the portal saw an influx of 20,461 grievances of which 16019 grievances were resolved. Further, the portal consolidates request made on other portals like CPGRAMS as well, streamlining the process and

• Market Access

The home page of the website boasts of an attractive pop up inviting visitors to buy products from MSMEs. This opens up a whole new market that the players can tap into. Further, supply-side benefits abound. A dedicated Covid-19 Manufacturing portal serves as a gateway for participants to enter the medical equipment manufacturing space.

• Financial and Operational Benefits

With all relevant schemes available on the portal, MSMEs can avail of specific financial benefits promptly. Guidance on tool rooms, operations and logistics are also helpful.

• Recognition

The portal aims to identify best performing MSMEs and push them to even greater heights. This serves as a great reward for the efforts of the firms and incentivizes the growth of the entire sector.

For the Public:

• Easy Access to ‘Vocal for Local’ Products

Those seeking to support the MSMEs and make their purchases via these players can easily do so by navigating through the pop-up located on the home page of the portal.

• Ease of Providing Inputs

Your Ideas and Advice Please are two pages within Champions that facilitate industry personnel, academics and the public to offer ideas on how the Government can frame better policies for MSMEs, additional thoughts and tips on navigating the economic climate. Such a streamlined mechanism was absent in the past.

For the Government:

• Bustling MSME Environment and Contribution to the Economy

The various mechanisms and offerings of the platform which seeks to streamline the MSME sectors which has traditionally been highly disconnected would serve as a fillip to the economy as a whole. MSMEs would be in a better position to thrive both locally and also reach global heights.

• Cost Synergies

Streamlining of various platforms, reduction of grievance redressal time, implementation of the hub-and-spoke model will, in the long run, offer cost synergies. As accountability improves, the quality of services offered improves and so does the lifetime of the service. AI/ML incorporation would offer cheaper access to data and help resolve minor cases with minimum cost.

• Access to Data

By centralizing online MSME activity to one website, the Government can get access to large amounts of data from which useful insights can be gleaned regarding the state-wise and district-wise distribution of MSMEs, problems faced in various regions by various types of businesses and their requirements. This, coupled with ML tech, can help the Government make better policies to cater to their needs. They can also utilize this data to inform MSMEs of better logistics models, sourcing and marketing strategies.

• International Positioning

There is an immense opportunity for the Government to promote this page in various global forums and platforms. This will offer immense revenue synergies to MSMEs and the country, enhance India’s positioning on the global stage, indicate improving ease of doing business and serve as a healthy cultural showcase.

Scope for Improvements

• A clear definition of what constitutes a resolution of a grievance needs to be in place. It’s not enough for MSMEs to receive communication regarding their query, but they need to be satisfied with the response.
• Greater transparency around MSME statistics, ideas collected and grievances resolved would give a clear indication of performance to the public. Currently, there isn’t publicly accessible data on redressal resolution, hence the 7-day claim needs to be verified.
• Given the distribution of MSMEs in the country, vernacular optionality for viewing the site would be extremely beneficial.