The Puducherry chapter of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) organised a Buyer-Seller meet recently aimed at providing linkages between PSUs and MSMEs. Addressing the gathering, Mr Meenakshi Kumar, Chairman, CII Puducherry, spoke on the recommendations made by the Industry to the Government of Puducherry in framing the New Industrial Policy, which would be brought out shortly. He also spoke about Statutory Compliance Meeting, wherein issues related to the Industry could be discussed at the CII Office on a monthly basis on the 30th of every month. This initiative is of the first of its kind that CII Puducherry has come up with to help the MSME sector sustain and retain in their respective fields.

Mr S Suresh, Chief Manager, State Bank of India, Siruthozhil, spoke about a new banking product called SBI SMILE (Small and Micro "Interest Free" Loan which extends unsecured interest free term credit up to Rs 10 lakh by way of quasi capital. To provide impetus to MSME sector offering collateral free loans up to Rs.1.00 crore under the cover of CGTMSE( Credit Guarantee Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises).

Mr V Renganathan, Branch Manager, NSIC, Puducherry, spoke on how NSIC has been working to fulfill its mission of promoting, aiding and fostering the growth of MSME & industry-related SSI services in the country. Mr K S Shetty, Vice Chairman, CII & Vice President, Hindustan National Glass & Industries Limited, proposed a vote of thanks.

PSUs were represented by Mr Prabhat Verma, Additional General Manager, Ordnance Factory, Medak, Hyderabad, Mr Paritosh Pandey, Dy General Manager, Vendor Development & Sourcing, Bharat Earth Movers Limited, Bangalore, Mr E R Sree Kumar, DGM - Materials, National Mineral Development Corporation Limited, Hyderabad, Mr D V Ravi, Additional General Manager, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd., Piping Centre, Chennai, and Mr P V Suresh Kumar, Sr. Materials Manager/Steel, Integral Coach Factory, Chennai.