India’s micro-enterprises must develop strong trade skills to propel growth: CEA Nageswaran

New Delhi, May 12 The future of India’s growth will be determined by how inclusively micro-enterprises are enabled to adopt, adapt, scale, and compete, Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) Dr V Anantha Nageswaran, said on Tuesday.

Addressing a session during the ‘CII Annual Business Summit 2026’ here, Nageswaran said in many leading economies, MSMEs are not technological backwaters but often at the forefront of innovation and technological advancement.

“India’s micro-enterprises must evolve in the same direction. The most critical requirement for this is the development of strong trade skills,” he told the gathering.

He further stated that entrepreneurs must invest in their own skills and set an example, making sure their employees, no matter if they are in service areas like accounting, HR, or inventory, also invest in these trades.

“These are also pathways to growth, as these skills will lead to employment generation. This is the way for them to integrate themselves into the global value chain,” said Nageswaran.

R Dinesh, Past President CII and Chairman, CII Centre of Excellence on Employment and Livelihood (CEL), said that when we speak about the future of India, micro and small enterprises will play a key role.

‘We think the future doesn’t lie just in boardrooms or tech labs. We want to become the enablers for MSMEs and rural jobs. We have to make the future of India bright and resilient, this paves the way for economic depth, social stability, and employment architecture,” he mentioned during the event.

According to Rajiv Memani, President, CII, the broader question for India is not just what we import, but also how we think about manufacturing competitiveness, trade relationships and long-term economic resilience.

Meanwhile, the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, this month approved the launch of the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) 5.0, aimed at providing crucial financial support to businesses impacted by the ongoing West Asia crisis.

Under the new phase of the scheme, the government will extend enhanced credit guarantee coverage through the National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company Limited (NCGTC).

The scheme offers 100 per cent guarantee coverage for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and 90 per cent coverage for non-MSMEs as well as the airline sector. This backing is intended to encourage banks and financial institutions to lend additional funds without fear of default risks.

Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor