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no product in the world which Source: Mikronix Gauges Pvt Ltd stream of cash,” he notes, adding
cannot be made cheaper. But that the same has been suffered
Many MS- the more important question is: We need to stay together to face by MGPL. “What any MSME
MEs have Are cheap products better? The and survive them and bounce must do is to follow the highest
transformed true value of a product or ingre- back when things begin to nor- level of financial discipline to ad-
themselves dient of a product, processes etc. malize,” he shares. dress this issue,” he suggests.
in Covid-19 is overlooked. We believe our Another big challenge faced by
by reinvent- products offer a certain value SME woes MSMEs is recruiting and retain-
ing their and return on investments. We Although MSMEs contribute ing skilled human resources. “In
process and maintain a competitive pricing the biggest chunk in terms of their early days, most MSMEs
business and but are, at the same time, ready employment and exports, they do not have the capacity to offer
emerging to lose customers who buy con- remain the most vulnerable a generous pay to their skilled
successful. sidering only the price factor,” because of their size and the workers, which is a handicap.
Hanchanal stresses. daily challenges an entrepre- To overcome this, training of hu-
“We have customers who do neur faces, particularly in their man resources is especially im-
not calibrate our gauges and early years, says Hanchanal. portant. This also remains an un-
ask us to just send them to their “The biggest worry for them is attended issue by many MSMEs.
work area. This is the kind of the cashflow. Unfortunately, in At MGPL, we ensure to regularly
reputation that we have built India, most do not pay MSMEs in conduct trainings for technical
over the years,” he adds. the agreed time frame of around and soft skills to upskill our per-
30/60 days. It’s a struggle run- sonnel,” he shares.
Coping with unforeseen ning the show with no steady
challenges Government intervention
Covid-19 and its subsequent To help MSMEs overcome a few
lockdowns posed a gamut of obstacles in their way, the Union
challenges for all. Hanchanal Cabinet has approved funding
speaks of the ones MGPL faced of up to `3 lakh crore to MSMEs
in its way. “The pandemic threw as part of the `20 lakh crore eco-
unprecedented challenges in the nomic package announced by
last year; the company stopped Finance Minister Nirmala Sitha-
its operations for almost two raman earlier with 100 percent
months. We took a conscious guarantee coverage provided by
decision of ensuring all our team National Credit Guarantee Trust-
members, including the ones on ee Company Limited (NCGTC).
probation or contract (which is “It is a good scheme that have
10 percent of our total strength), benefitted many MSMEs al-
stuck together in the tough ready. It helped them a great deal
times. It is because of our team to come out of their immediate
and customers that we exist. financial burden. However, there
We took care of each one of our is still a big number of small units
family members and our smaller that are yet to be benefitted as
associates (suppliers), ensuring they have some issues related to
that the cash flow remains least its execution,” he points out.
impacted for us to sail through. The industry, according to him,
However, it is not over; there expected a little more from the
will be many more challenges funds parked in ESIC (Employees’
thrown up in the years to come. State Insurance). “If you see their
balance sheet, there are funds
Source: Mikronix Gauges Pvt Ltd available. It was expected that
Source: Mikronix Gauges Pvt Ltd they will come forward in this
pandemic and share the funds
with the industry or directly pay
some portion of salary in the ac-
count of employees registered on
ESIC,” he states, summing up with
an insider’s view.
40 | May-June 2021 Modern Manufacturing India
