Growth of SME Exports in India in spite of Rising Cost of Raw Materials

Even with increase in costs of raw materials, there had been a growth in exports form the MSMEs in India. According to the study conducted by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), difficult global market and international competition had not limited the growth of the exports.

The report revealed that about 42 percent of the surveyed firms achieved an increase in volume of their exports in the first six months of 2009. However, it was found that 9% of the surveyed firms had no change in the volume of exports and 49% had decrease in the volume. The report revealed that Europe, North America, South East Asia, Middle East Asia, and Far East Asia were the potential markets for the exports of Indian MSMEs.

The benefits of interest rate subvention for Indian MSMEs were also estimated by the study. An economic stimulus package was proposed for the SMEs by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). It was revealed from the study that only 40 percent of the surveyed firms did not receive the benefit of the interest rate subvention and 24% of them were not aware of it. However, the benefit was availed by 36% of the surveyed firms.