Union MSME Minister Nitin Gadkari said that MSMEs are the backbone of the economy. 11 crore jobs are being created in this sector. The country's GDP is being grown by 30 percent.

Khadi is also being developed today, the minister said in MSME & Startup Forum Bharat webinar held on 27 March 2021. He said that Khadi denim is being exported all over the world today and the Government is constantly striving to provide raw material to the village.

10 Basic Mantras of Gadkari:

1.Import substitution

2. Rural and Tribal businesses using locally available products.

3. Form Waste to wealth innovative Enterprises.

4. Focus on Quality, Affordability and Packaging

5. Poverty eradication needs job creation which in turn needs industry with needs Finance and skills.

6. Opportunity for our MSF in spreading awareness of Govt schemes and training. 

7. Encourage schools of Entrepreneurial Education.

8. MSMEs should modernise and lower costs of manufacture, labour and logistics.

9. Use and promote inland water transport (IWT)in the country as an economical, environment-friendly supplementary mode of transport to rail and road transport.

10. MSF should draft and present suggestions and solutions to the MSME ministry even if they involve other ministries.

Gadkari said promoting organic farming is the need of the day. Bio CNG tractors are being launched today, he added. This saves from 1.5 lakh to 3 lakh rupee. Public transport in Nagpur has come on CNG. Vehicles based on ethanol are being launched. He explained that the tribal economy needs to be understood. In the North East, bamboo incense sticks, ice cream sticks, etc., are being made at a cost of Rs 25,000 crore. Nitin Gadkari apprised that several clusters are being opened in the Spoorti Scheme. A grant of up to Rs 5 crore is given under the scheme.

Gadkari expressed concern over fuel imports. He said crude oil worth 8 lakh crore rupees is being imported into the country. Now, the ethanol that can be made from sugarcane will strengthen our economy. This ethanol pump is also going to arrive. UP is the land of sugarcane. If petrol pumps in UP get ethanol-based fuel, imports worth Rs 8 lakh crore could be reduced.

Gadkari said it is important to increase exports. Organic products can be exported. Our country's potatoes are being exported to the world. The scraping policy has been introduced in the automobile sector. This will make it possible to export vehicles. This will strengthen the MSME sector.

The dream of a self-reliant India will be fulfilled only when smart villages are built with smart cities. The day will come when people leave the city and return to their village. There is a shortfall of 2.2 million drivers in the country. That's why the driver training center is being given patronage. Msme Solutions and Champion Portal are continuously serving for people's hearings.

Gadkari said the Government of India has formulated a new Agro MSME policy. Strengthening agricultural products and manufacturing to promote vocal4locals. The minister said that this policy will prove to be an important dimension for agriculture and farmers' development.

Union Minister Gadkari further said that the MSME sector is being developed with the great mantra of self-reliant India. The Hon'ble Prime Minister himself is sensitive to this.

Varanasi Cant MLA Saurabh Srivasuo, Chairman of National Board of Advisors from Ahmedabad Niranjan Kumar Jain, Investor Nikhil Madan from Germany, R.K. Singh, President of Indian Industries Association from Varanasi. Prashant Shankar Pathak from Toronto, Canada, Purnima Voria from the USA, Ashutosh Agarwal from Bengaluru, Neeraj Parikh from Varanasi, Rajneesh Bajpai from California, Sanjay Abraw from Jammu and Kashmir held talks.

Nitin Gadkari answered all the questions and suggestions in detail. Dr. Vijay Chathaiwale, Chief Patron of The Theme Raising Forum, Manoj Kumar Shah, National President, Msme & Startups Forum, and National General Secretary Sanjay Banerjee also spoke on the occasion. The event was being broadcast on all social media platforms of the forum.

Bhavna Shah, Maharashtra State chapter President of MSME &Startups Forum, Bharat said MSMEs are important for country’s growth. With costs escalating upto 30-40% in recent times, working capital is a challenge.She said it is heartening to note, government has strong emphasis on MSMEs & Startups. Government is consistently coming out with new plans to boost further growth of MSME sector and it is a welcome move.These measures will go a long way