No.PR-160 July 8, 2020 New Delhi PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry Organized a virtual seminar for Start-ups in association with Ministry of MSME-DI-Kanpur, GOI & IGNOU The Uttar Pradesh Chapter of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) organized an interactive virtual seminar for Start-ups in association with ministry of MSME-DI-Kanpur, GOI & IGNOU on 8th of July 2020. The objective of the Webinar was to deliberate upon the key challenges and issues faced by the Aspiring Entrepreneurs in their Startups and also to discuss the opportunities and solutions for them to overcome the challenges. The interactive webinar also aimed to disseminate various schemes and rights for Start-ups and MSMEs available with the Government. The Chief dignitaries of the session included Dr. Lalit Khaitan, CMD Radico Khaitan Ltd. & Mentor, UP State Chapter, PHDCCI; Shri LBS Yadav, Director, MSME-DI, Kanpur, Govt. of India; Shri Rajendra Prasad, AGM, SIDBI; Shri Varun Kashyap, Co-founder, Letsendorse; Dr. Shashi Rana, Chief Consultant, Patent Minder, IP Associates; Dr. Manorma Singh, Regional Director, IGNOU- LKO; Dr. Kirti Vikram Singh, Assistant Regional Director, IGNOU-LKO; Shri Nikhil Agarwal, CEO, Incubation, IIT-Kanpur; Dr. Jai Prakash Verma, Coordinator, IGNOU-LKO; Dr. Ranjeet Mehta, Principal Director, PHDCCI & Mr. Atul Srivastava, Resident Director, UP State Chapter, PHDCCI. Dr. Lalit Khaitan, Mentor, UP State Chapter PHDCCI in his welcome remarks, greeted and welcomed all the dignitaries and participants for sparing their valuable time for this meaningful session and begun by sharing his lifetime experience, he started his business from the garage and later purchased Rampur Uttar Pradesh company for Rs. 16 Lakhs and now they have become one of the largest liquor company in the world. In motivating the young aspirants by sharing his real life experience he said that beginning of anything is usually small. He emphasized on developing few important traits for becoming a successful entrepreneur like hard work, punctuality, focus towards the goal, consistency, positive attitude and last but not the least is to have faith in God. He further said that the Startups and MSMEs in Uttar Pradesh forms the backbone of its economic progress and development as they contribution to industrial productivity, employment generation, versatile nature, adaptability and contribution in exports. MSME industries constitute an important segment of the State’s Economy in terms of employment generation and as a source of foreign exchange earnings through exports. He said that in order for India to be a $5 Trillion Economy by 2024, it is equally pertinent that Uttar Pradesh should reach a $1 Trillion Economy mark, and MSMEs of the State can play a statistic role if they are aware of their rights and privileges and also if the issues and challenges faced by them are being addressed by the State Government properly. Dr. Khaitan concluded by encouraging for Make in UP instead of importing good from abroad. Dr. Manorma Singh, Regional Director, IGNOU- LKO shed light on the importance of Startups in the State, She said that these enterprises not only play a crucial role in providing large scale employment opportunities at lower capital cost, but also help in industrialization of rural and backward areas, thereby reducing regional imbalance, assuring more equitable distribution of national income and wealth. These startup units are supplementary and complementary to large and medium scale units as ancillaries. Dr. Singh also said that Innovation and Incubation; Entrepreneurship and Implementation are there important pillars for any Start-up to grow. Dr. Kirti Vikram Singh, Assistant Regional Director, IGNOU-LKO thanked PHDCCI for inviting him on such a vibrant and meaningful platform where all the concerns pertaining to the Startups of the State were discussed and addressed upon. He said that there are several schemes and facilities enlisted under the Government (State & Central) for the Startups about which the Startups of the State are not yet well aware of. He said that various Facilitation Centers are made across the State to assist the Startups to avail these facilities. Shri LBS Yadav, Director, MSME-DI, Kanpur, Govt. of India, informed that Uttar Pradesh is the leading state in India, having the highest number of enterprises in the MSME sector. The state has over 44 lakh MSME units at present. Out of these 1.88 lakh units registered, while 42.15 lakh units are unregistered, he said that MSME sector accounts for second largest employment generation next only to agriculture sector in Uttar Pradesh. In addition, it is the leading state in India in terms of the number of people employed in MSME. He then apprised about the role of MSME DI Kanpur in facilitating the Startup of the State and also about various schemes available for them. While giving his presentation, he discussed about the Champion Portal launched by Ministry of MSME, which aims at Creation and Harmonious Application of Modern Processes for Increasing the Output and National Strength. This is basically for making the smaller units big by helping and handholding and to help the MSMEs in this difficult situation in terms of finance, raw materials, labour, permissions, etc. and he also explain about the procedure on how to register at Udyam Portal whose objective is to provide single-page registration, which is less time-consuming and simplify processes of registering of any enterprise under Micro, Medium and Small Enterprise (MSME) by which an entrepreneur will get an e-certificate of recognition and a unique number. Any form of an agency such as a limited liability partnership (LLP) or a private limited company can be registered with the Udyam registration portal. Shri Rajendra Prasad, AGM, SIDBI said that said that in the Life Cycle of any Startup, it is natural that challenges mark a prominent place for themselves and in order to evade them successfully it is pertinent that expert advices and suggestions are been provided to the Startups time to time. The opportunities in MSME sectors are enormous due to the factors like Less Capital Intensive, Extensive Promotion & Support by Government, Reservation for Exclusive Manufacture, Funding by way of Finance & Subsidies, Reservation for Exclusive Purchase by Government, Export Promotion, great demand in the domestic market , export potential and so on. He said that beside the role of Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) in empowering MSMEs, acting as the nodal agency for SME schemes of Government of India and focusing on the development of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise sector, SIDBI also promotes cleaner production and energy efficiency. He informed that SIDBI helps MSMEs in acquiring the funds they require to grow, market, develop and commercialize their technologies and innovative products. The bank provides several schemes and also offers financial services and products for meeting the individual’s requirement of various businesses. He also said that the proper and decisive fund-management plays a crucial role in the lifecycle of any Startup. Shri Varun Kashyap, Co-founder, Letsendorse, discussed on how Letsendorse help in promoting startups. He said it is a collaborative ecosystem of social innovators from across the globe, grassroots partners (NGOs) from across India, responsible corporations, Governments and conscious individuals, who come together to take the most effective and befitting social innovations and solutions to the last-mile communities, thereby solving their problems. Dr. Nikhil Agarwal, CEO, Incubation, IIT-Kanpur said that the Incubation & Innovation centre at IIT Kanpur fosters innovation, research, and entrepreneurial activities in technology-based areas of the State. He informed that the Center has provided a platform for start-ups by budding entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs to convert their innovative ideas into commercially viable products and has also provided services related to patenting and commercialization them. He said that during the Lockdown of COVID-19 the incubation center has manufactured ventilators and N-95 masks in the bulk quantities to assist the State in this time of turbulence. He also informed that the incubation centre at IIT Kanpur is not only meant for IITians but also is open for everyone. Dr. Shashi Rana, Chief Consultant, Patent Minder, IP Associates shed light on the importance of IPR for the Startups. Dr. Rana said that Intellectual property protection is critical to fostering innovation and without protection of ideas, startups and big businesses would not reap the full benefits of their inventions and would focus less on research and development, she said that similarly, artists would not be fully compensated for their creations and cultural vitality would suffer as a result. She also stated that IP management for entrepreneurs and Startups plays a very significant role in their growth-cycle and explained the types of IP rights available for the businesses like Trademark, Patent, Geographical Integration etc. Dr. Jai Prakash Verma, Coordinator, IGNOU-LKO said that the economy of Uttar Pradesh is greatly driven by Startups and MSMEs and one of the major objectives of promoting these enterprises is entrepreneurship and employment generation. He said that the number of units can be understood to be a good indicator to represent the entrepreneurial base in a particular industry. He concluded by thanking PHDCCI for organizing such meaningful platforms and inviting him. Dr. Ranjeet Mehta, Pricipal Director, PHDCCI moderated the entire session and also gave the formal vote of thanks to all the dignitaries for attending the session and sharing the insights. The Interactive Webinar was well attended by more than 150 participants comprising of Entrepreneurs, Startup Enterprises, Senior Industrialists, academicians, students, policy makers and other stakeholders working in this area. Ends Media Division PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry