New Delhi, Nov 3 (KNN) Increasing usage and access of solar and wind-based energy and nuclear power generation for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) will help shape its role in India’s commitment towards net zero emission, suggested Sucharita Kamath, India Chapter Head at Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) on Thursday.

She was one of the panellist speaking at the Centre for Responsible Business’s (CRB) 9th edition of its three day annual flagship Sustainable Business Conference which will conclude on November 4, 2022.

The discussion was on ‘Role of SMEs for India’s commitment to Net Zero’ and was moderated by Dr. Tamal Sarkar, Senior Advisor for MSME Clusters.

Rajiv Chawla, Chairman at IamSMEofIndia spoke about how most unorganised MSMEs are complying with government regulation and keeping up with regular customer requirement such as ban imposed on crackers, single use plastic and gensets.

Some of the challenges highlighted further in the discussion were the absence of a conducive ecosystem to enable creating innovative solutions and lack of skill and knowledge.

As per a recent survey by SME Climate Hub it is noted that 63 per cent of SME respondents said that they not possess the necessary skill to make this transition themselves.

Disconnect in policy implementation between the central government and state government was also emphasised along with a lack of awareness among SMEs as well as supporting intermediaries. 

Need for capacity building of SMEs was raised with regard to funding, technology including the local banking sector.

For SMEs to take better climate action steps the panel called to create right skills for SMEs and enable them to adopt digital management tools.

Rene Van Berkel, UNIDO Representative & Head, Regional Office in India; Dr. S. Glory Swarupa, Director General at National Institute for MSME; Pamela Jouven, Director – SME Climate  Hub at We Mean Business Coalition, UK; Kalyani Pantangi, Co-Founder & Director, Intelliace Solutions Pvt. Ltd; Mukesh Gulati, Executive Director at FMC and Rajendra Prasad from SIDBI were the other speakers present.  (KNN Bureau)