New Delhi, Apr 22 (KNN) Vedanta Limited, India’s leading producer of metals and oil & gas has launched the ‘Vedanta Saathi’ programme for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

Vedanta’s key offerings for MSMEs under the Saathi programme include channel financing in partnership with a host of leading banks, NBFCs and FinTech firms; soon to be launched e-commerce solutions; avenues for technical upskilling; opportunities for MSMEs to set up downstream/ancillary manufacturing units near Vedanta’s plants; and single window for MSMEs to interact with Vedanta’s Quality, Product Application, Engineering and Innovation teams through a dedicated web portal.

Speaking on the occasion, Nitin Gadkari said the pandemic has triggered a significant restructuring in the global supply chain, with countries and industries looking to diversify their sources of supply and services.

“This offers our MSMEs a huge opportunity to tap into the new markets that are opening up, and get integrated into these global supply chains. The Government of India has already taken significant steps to help revive the MSME sector. Now, we must ensure that digital transformation takes place that enables them to capitalise on this current opportunity,” a statement from Vedanta quoted the Minister as saying.

''In parallel, there needs to be a greater focus on capability building for MSMEs. This includes helping them with right inputs on design, manufacturing, maintaining product quality and scaling their business. Endeavours by private companies, like Vedanta’s Saathi programme, which is aligned to these very objectives, can prove to be a game changer for our MSMEs,” he added.

Anil Agarwal Executive Chairman–Vedanta Resources Ltd said that MSMEs and start-ups contribute only 7 per cent towards the GDP of India, whereas the global average stands at ~ 40 per cent.

“There are immense opportunities for our MSME sector to scale up their businesses, with access to new-age technologies, opportunities to upskill, and quality raw materials. This will boost opportunities for rojgar, benefitting our talented youth and alleviating poverty. Vedanta is glad to partner with our MSMEs to accelerate this growth journey.”

Currently, more than 150 of the company’s MSME customers have availed channel financing to access a credit limit of ~Rs 1000 crore by leading banks and NBFCs. Vedanta said it is committed to grow this limit by 5x for MSME customers, adding more banks and NBFCs to its fold.

Besides helping MSMEs, this will also provide an attractive and low risk opportunity to banks and lending partners to strengthen their base with one of the strongest customer networks in India.