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Mentor On Road – in Belgaum

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A grand ‘Mentor on Road’ project aimed at supporting SME’s rural enterprises, startups & young professionals who seek guidance & networking support for their business, talent and ideas, has started from May 4, 2015. The purpose of the “Mentor on Road” initiative is to meet SMEs in different locations – tell them ideas of different ideas to add value in the total supply chain & thus generate employment.

The Chief Mentor Mr. Jagat Shah was in Belgaum on 11th & 12th May 2015 & had interactive sessions with staff & students from GIT collage, Members of the Foundry Cluster, Members of TiE Belgaum/Hubli @ IMER, Forum of Entrepreneurs, Association of Honaga Industrial Area & the Gujarati Samaj.mentor-on-road belgaum

He highlighted that the contribution of the Agriculture to GDP has dropped in the last decades and that of the manufacturing has remained stagnant @ 15%. He said the “Make in India” project is to generate more employment opportunities for the youth else what we see as a boon will turn in to a bane. “The Make in India project is mis-understood as it is for the foreign companies to come and Make in India – but it is not so” he said. “The government has come out with a list of 180 items which India purely imports – can we not make them in India & why” – he asked. If there are any limitations in doing so the government wants to know & help the industries by getting them the necessary support. He sighted various success stories of collaborations, innovations & marketing techniques. He urged the need to add value to the total supply chain by novel ideas – like instead of allowing the tomato’s to rot – make a tomato sauce & preserve – this will help the farmer & will also generate employment through such industries.

During the interactions with the sections of the industry following issues were highlighted to him as the need of the hour by the SMEs in Belgaum

  • Non Availability of Quality Skilled Manpower
  • Trouble in getting people for work due to the various government governmental schemes which gives free-bees/subsidy to the unemployed
  • Requirement of better Air connectivity
  • Limitations on availability of up-to-date technology
  • Difficulties with international patenting
  • Difficulty with “Single Window” clearances – delays in sanctioning permissions etc.
  • Need to simplify tax structure – need to bring in GST
  • Difficulty due to differential state policies – e.g. power tariff in Shinoli-Maharashtra is higher than Karnataka thus making manufacturing uncompetitive. (Similarly Octori)
  • Expectation from the Government to see that the recession goes off as soon as possible
  • Need of an Industrial Park in Belgaum

Mr. Dhananjay Patel & Mr. Vinayak Lokur coordinated the various events.

The project will cover 18 states, 27 cities, mentoring 6000+ companies by travelling 9400+ kms cross country. Cities to be covered under the project include Ahmedabad, Surat, Nashik, Pune, Belgaum, Panaji, Mangaluru, Kochi, Madurai, Coimbatore, Mysore, Vijayawada, Vizag, Raipur, Bhubaneshwar, Kolkata, Jamshedpur, Patna, Varanasi, Kanpur, Dehradun, Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Delhi, Jaipur and Indore. The 65 day long project will conclude on July 7.

At the end of the tour a report will be submitted to the Prime Minister’s task force for SME’s

Initially for a period of one year a local mentor is selected in each of the city who will act as a coordinator to guide and support the businesses for international market linkage & Make in India. He will also act as the bridge to communicate the policy related needs of the industry to the government.

For Belgaum Mr. Vinayak Lokur has been appointed as the local mentor. He can be contacted at 0 94484 73760 for further details/assistance.

Mentor on Road, (www.mentoronroad.com) is a concept envisaged by the Founder and Chief Mentor of Cluster Pulse, an Economic Development agency and Global Network, an International Trade advisory firm – Jagat Shah from Ahmedabad. 

Mentor-on-Road shall provide an opportunity to the beneficiary companies to connect them to international markets through various modes like Skype meetings, Video conference, Email introductions, Whatsapp, Social media etc. 3500 live business contacts of India & abroad will be moving with the mentor in the car, by way of visiting cards. Companies will be constantly supported by the chief mentor, Jagat Shah along with a local mentor from each city.

Do check the website : www.mentoronroad.com & we request you to like our face book to stay updated on daily basis : www.facebook.com/mentoronroad

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