With an aim of expanding the footprint of Indian MSME industry in the global market, Union MSME Minister Nitin Gadkari urged retail giant Walmart to collaborate with Khadi and village industries to take their products to global markets. He hailed the MSME sector in India as a major job creator and contributor to the country's GDP. “Khadi Gram Udyog has very good products. We are making Khadi denim and other products whose quality is of international standards. I will request if you can give opportunity to Khadi Gram Udyog. I feel that will be a unique thing for Walmart also,” Gadkari said at a virtual event on Tuesday.
He suggested that Walmart can engage with sectors like handloom, handicrafts, and other village industries.
“They (industries) have unique types of products that are definitely going to give you (Walmart) more business. At the same time, it creates job opportunities in India. Our target is to increase exports, and Indian MSMEs must become part of the global supply chain," he said.
In December last year, US retail major Walmart said it would open 25 institute hubs in India over the next five years, which would train 50,000 entrepreneurs from the MSME sector. The institutes are to be opened under the Walmart Vriddhi Supplier Development Programe and would be strategically located near manufacturing clusters. On Tuesday, Walmart said it is adding interactive online training experiences and personalized mentoring to the programme, with access to resources and experts to support growth for MSMEs.
Walmart Vriddhi's first all-digital e-institute will initially be open to MSMEs in Panipat, Sonipat, and Kundli, an area that is a hub of textile, steel and kitchenware production with a strong entrepreneurial heritage and a skilled workforce. “Following the COVID-19 outbreak, the programme has been reshaped to emphasize digital experiences, and this allowed it to be rolled out to more MSMEs. In the future, it will offer a mix of digital and in-person training, mentoring and network experiences via physical Vriddhi Institutes when conditions are favourable,” said Nittin Dutt, Senior Director and Head at Walmart Vriddhi. (Source: PTI, Business Standard)
