The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCC&I) organized the 13th Edition of the Manufacturing Conclave and BCC&I and Tata Steelium Manufacturing & MSME Excellence Awards on the 10th of March at The Sheraton Grand Hotel in Pune.

BCC&I believes in many cultures, many regions but one India and because of this BCC&I recognize and acknowledge the centres of excellence which have developed across the country. The Chamber chose Pune for this event since the city is the manufacturing hub of the country. Also, the theme of the Conclave was “Automation in Manufacturing” and Pune is the city which has the perfect blend of IT and Manufacturing industries in terms of their presence.

The Sessions of the Conclave was designed in such a fashion so that all the pillars of the theme were addressed and the participants were enlightened on the various means of modernizing and enhancing their businesses. Apart from the Inaugural Session, the Conclave had six Knowledge Sessions on topics such as Automation in Manufacturing, Last Mile Connectivity, Access to Credit, Disruption by FinTechs, Digital Platforms in Leveraging Market and Access to Market for MSMEs.

The participants varied from various small and big mining companies, steel products & steel alloys producing companies, Engineering Industry, Mining Equipment & Machinery producing companies, Companies from the Ferro Alloys sector, Mineral Trading Companies, Institutes with Department of Geology, Metallurgy and Mechanical engineering, Geo−Spatial companies, Consultants and also Engineers contributed in making an august gathering.

Delivering the welcome address, Mr. Sanjay Behera, Chairperson, Manufacturing and MSME Committee of The Bengal Chamber and Chief Sales Manager, Tata Steel said, “This is a very good platform for cross−pollination of ideas, issues faced by the industry, sharing of best practices and networking amongst the participants. The event will also bring together key stakeholders of manufacturing, startups, banking sector and MSME ecosystem to share actionable insights, strategy and solutions to boost and strengthen the global competitiveness of our manufacturing and MSME sector which is regarded as the growth engine of the Indian economy.”

The President of the Bengal Chamber and MD & CEO, Exide Industries Limited delivered the theme address. He said that, “MSME sector is important since it is one of the highest employment generators in the country and much of the innovation that takes place, happens in this sector. It has become imperative for MSMEs to adapt to the fast−changing environment and since they have limited resources, solutions can be sought with academic institutions.”

Dr. Tapan Panda Professor & Pro VC Division − Business & Leadership, MIT World Peace University in his keynote address said that, “Today, there is no boundary for competition and it can come from anywhere and hence the need for excellence”.

Over 350 Policymakers, Think Tanks, Business Leaders and Practitioners across the country attended the conclave. Large manufacturers which attended the conclave included Tata Steel, JSW Steel, L&T, TSDPL, AMNS Steel, Tata Shakti, Exide Industries, Thermax, Metalbook, Reliable Auto Tech, Tata BlueScope, International Combustion, SKM Steel, AMNS Ispat & Tata Agri Co.

MSMEs which participated in the day−long Conclave were both from manufacturing and services sectors. Manufacturing MSMEs were mainly from steel and auto sectors while Services sector MSMEs were mainly from robotics, industry 4.0 solutions, fintech platforms, logistics. All major fintechs and digital market platforms of the country which include M1 Exchange, Of Business, Moglix, L&T SuFin, Tata Nexarc, JSW One were present.

Amongst the banks, the Conclave had the participation from SIDBI, SBI, Yes Bank & Kotak Mahindra.

The Conclave culminated with BCC&I − Tata Steelium Manufacturing & MSME Awards. 168 nominations across India were received. 39 companies were awarded in various categories which include:

1. MSME OF THE YEAR − MANUFACTURING
2. MSME OF THE YEAR − SERVICE
3. MSME OF THE YEAR − SUSTAINABILITY
4. EXPORTER MSME OF THE YEAR
5. RISING STARTUP OF THE YEAR
6. And many other categories