Heavy industries ministry mulls special schemes for auto-component SMEs

The ministry of heavy industries and public enterprises is considering specialised schemes for financing of auto-component sector SMEs, according to Vilasrao Dehsmukh. minister of heavy industries and public enterprises.

Speaking at the Golden Jubilee Inaugural Session of the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA), in New Delhi on Thursday, Deshmukh, said SME's rarely had the means to raise required resources on their own and the scheme was meant to address the issue.

The minister complimented the domestic industry for doing much better than the global auto industry in the global downturn and called on it to develop sustainable competitive advantages. He asked manufacturers to put the measures in the foreign trade policy to use to attain objectives of the Automotive Mission Plan 2006-15 aimed at taking the total turnover to $145 billion by 2016.

Speaking at the event, Venu Srinivasan, president CII said that while India has proved its expertise in engineering products at low cost through recent launches, import competition still remained a major future challenge.

He added that Indian auto components imports exceeded exports and with the Free Trade Agreements, imports would rise even higher. He said energy resources would also pose a major challenge.

Deshmukh emphasised the need to allocate funds towards more efficient machinery, upgradation of workers' skills and the adoption of the latest manufacturing technologies.