NDTV Emerging Business Conclave brings together top industry voices to discuss nation’s economic backbone – The SMEs and Emerging businesses
NDTV hosted the Emerging Business Conclave, an important event aimed at empowering India’s burgeoning entrepreneurial landscape. Held in the capital city, New Delhi, the event served as a pivotal platform for entrepreneurs, policymakers, and industry leaders to engage in meaningful dialogue, address pressing challenges, and foster collaborations that drive sustainable growth. The Conclave underscored India’s potential to position itself as a global hub of entrepreneurship and innovation in an increasingly dynamic and competitive world.
The event boasted a stellar line-up of speakers, including Jitan Ram Manjhi, Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises; Jayant Chaudhary, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship; Dr. Arvind Panagariya, Chairman of the 16th Finance Commission; Kirthiga Reddy, Founder & CEO of Virtualness; Rajnish Kumar, Chairman of Mastercard; Ranganath Sadasiva, CTO of HP Enterprises; Ajay Rajan, Country Head for Government, Multinational, and International Business, Transaction Banking & Knowledge Units at Yes Bank; Dilip Chenoy, Chairman, Bharat Web3 Association; Anna Roy, Senior Advisor at NITI Aayog; and Dr. Shamika Ravi, Member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister.
Jitan Ram Manjhi, Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, highlighted the pivotal role of MSMEs, “MSME is a very important sector. This sector, after agriculture, generates the most income and employment—contributing 30.1% to India’s GDP, 35.4% to the manufacturing sector, and 45.73% to exports.”
Jayant Chaudhary, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, underscored the need to revitalize skilling efforts, saying:
“From 15 years to 45 years, we are looking at how we can make skilling aspirational, exciting, how we can re-engineer our skilling ecosystem to make it more market-oriented.”
Discussing the importance of skilling within MSMEs, Dr. Arvind Panagariya, Chairman of the 16th Finance Commission, said “Skill education helps, but the learning is always on the job. Capital is also needed to ensure skilling. If the ecosystem they work in is large or medium, workers have to up their game. If the ecosystem is defined by less capital, there is no drive to acquire skills.”
Commenting on the conclave, Mandeep Singh, Revenue Head – TV, NDTV, said, “Indian small businesses are not just enterprises; they are the heartbeat of our nation’s economic growth and resilience. The NDTV Emerging Business Conclave was a remarkable celebration of this entrepreneurial spirit, bringing together visionaries, changemakers, and pioneers who are shaping the future. We plan to create many regional chapters of the conclave going forward”
Through a series of expert-led discussions, keynote addresses, and collaborative sessions, the conclave provided entrepreneurs with actionable insights to navigate the rapidly evolving economic landscape.