The Indian economy has seen a paradigm shift over the last two decades with the rise of entrepreneurship, particularly among the middle-class population. Today it is estimated Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) make up a workforce of over 100 million, contributing to about 45% of industrial output, 40% of the country’s exports, which makes up 8% of the country’s GDP. Yes Bank recognises the sheer potential of the growing ethos of entrepreneurship, and has pledged to contribute to the growth of this sector. Not only have they taken serious steps towards making their banking procedures more streamlined and convenient, they have also worked to enhance their environmental and occupational health and safety.
Say Yes to Sustainable MSMEs in India – A unique project by Yes Bank under the leadership of Rana Kapoor
Yes Bank has taken their CSR initiatives to the next level with the innovative and revolutionary CSR initiative titled, ‘Say Yes to Sustainable MSMEs in India’. By promoting financial literacy and improving occupational safety, it has contributed effectively to the growth of these MSMEs, as well as setting landmark progress towards the government’s ‘Make in India’ campaign, which aims to boost the country’s production sector, thus reducing the dependence on imports. Led by Rana Kapoor, this project is a revolutionary initiative, and ever since its launch, has been of aid to thousands of MSMEs across the country. It has gained monumental momentum, owing to its informative workshops and efficiency boosting strategies educating smaller business owners about industry standard knowledge and safe practices. By the end of this year, they have a goal of reaching a lakh MSMEs, and guiding them towards success.
On similar lines, the ‘YES Bank SME Awards’ held in 2011 recognised the best and brightest in the SME industry. Among the prominent winners were Pramod Maheshwari, Chairman, MD, and CEO of Career Point Infosystems, won the Star CEO (medium) award; Debtosh Chatterjee, MD, and CEO of Chatterjee Cleaning Arts, won the Star CEO (small) award; Shyam Sunder Sharma, CEO of Ganesha Ecosphere, won the Star SME – Overall (medium) award; and Shripad Madhavrao Khatav, CEO of S.S. Techno Services, won three awards, including the Star SME – Overall (small) award.
Rana Kapoor’s Vision and Yes Bank’s Mission
‘Say Yes to Sustainable MSMEs in India’ was a phenomenal project that aimed to reach out to MSMEs across textile, rubber, plastic, food production and processing, sports goods, pharmaceuticals, handicraft, printing, tourism, chemicals, engineering and other sectors, in order to take India’s production potential to the next level. They had conducted crucial financial literacy camps, that gave these businesses a thorough understanding of finances, so that they could manage money better.
Yes Bank actively worked in equipping entrepreneurs with necessary technical skill sets and high value infrastructure for proficient resource management. It had also launched several e-commerce training programs for offline SMEs, that had offered hundreds of local small businesses a wider playing field to help their business reach a bigger audience online. It had paved way for easier financial funding, which had previously posed as a major hindrance for small businesses. Yes Bank had also been conducting structured sessions on occupational health and safety interventions, essential first-aid and safety training, as well as health camps for MSME workers. This was instrumental in reducing workplace incidents, which protected the workers from accidents, and reduced the overall risks in the working environment. With a safer space, it also reduced the damage costs and ensures seamless functioning.
Rana Kapoor was a passionate advocate for the environment and with his investment in the cause, this project also laid special emphasis on green initiatives. It arranged regular workshops on energy efficiency, renewable energy and cleaner technology in order to build MSMEs as cleaner and more energy efficient business models, as well as to reduce their long-term operating costs. Zero Defect Zero Effect (ZED) training sessions had been instrumental in improving operational efficiency and minimising the environmental footprint of MSMEs.
Yes Bank And Rana Kapoor Transform India’s MSME scene
‘Say Yes to Sustainable MSMEs in India’ has been a landmark initiative for MSMEs and the Indian economy alike. It has reached thousands of micro, small and medium scale businesses, which had benefitted from this Yes Bank initiative, and have contributed to the nation’s GDP, in return. With its safety and energy efficiency workshops, it has increased productivity, simultaneously reducing workplace accidents, thus saving MSMEs over 200 million in operations and exigency costs. Several industries have already experienced groundbreaking profits and Rana Kapoor estimates that this brilliant initiative will successfully be able to reach out to one lakh businesses by the end of this year.
