SME can boost economic growth: VSP Chairman

Visakhapatnam, Sept 1 (UNI) Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) Chairman and Managing Director Y Siva Sagar Rao today said the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) had an important role to contribute to the manufacturing sector.

Speaking on 'the Role of Large Industry in SME Growth', a conference organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here to focus on market challenges in the wake of globalisation, he said there was a dire need to build a substainable linkage with large scale organisation.

He said 'the SME sector contributes 70 to 80 per cent of job opportunity in the country and accounts for 35 to 40 per cent of exports'. The growth of the sector was vital for the socio-economic development of the nation, he added.

With a view to accelerating economic growth, he said infrastructure in power, ports, railways, roads and renewed labour laws were required to inject competitiveness and to make industries cost-effective.

Mr Rao cautioned that the sector required attention from the policy makers, investors and large scale entrepreneurs to face the challenges of liberalisation.