The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) hosted a special session titled “Powering the Future: India’s Micro Enterprises” during the CII Annual Business Summit 2026 in New Delhi, held on 11–12 May 2026, bringing together policymakers, industry leaders, and entrepreneurs to deliberate on opportunities, challenges, and the future growth of micro and small enterprises.
The session highlighted the critical role of micro and small enterprises in driving economic resilience, employment generation, and inclusive growth, with discussions focusing on strengthening their integration into domestic and global value chains while enabling them to adapt and scale.
It also provided a platform for entrepreneurs from across the country to present their challenges, aspirations, and growth ambitions directly to Government and industry leaders fostering meaningful dialogue and offering valuable insights into sectoral needs.
Delivering the keynote address, Dr V AnanthaNageswaran, Chief Economic Advisor, Government of India, emphasised that India’s growth will depend on how effectively micro-enterprises are supported in technology adoption, capability building, and value chain integration, stressing the importance of trade skills and innovation.
R Dinesh, Past President, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) & Chairman, CII Centre of Excellence on Employment & Livelihood, and Executive Chairman, TVS Supply Chain Solutions Ltd., highlighted that micro and small enterprises are central to India’s growth story, particularly in generating livelihoods and strengthening rural economies. He further emphasized that scaling MSMEs will hinge on strengthening four critical enablers – timely and affordable access to credit, seamless integration into value chains and markets, accelerated adoption of digital technologies, and focused investments in skilling and capability building – to enable them to compete and thrive in an evolving global landscape.
Kamal Bali, President & Managing Director, Volvo Group India, underscored the need to shift from a transactional to an ecosystem-based approach, with focus on working capital, technology adoption, and governance.He further stressed that MSMEs must be nurtured as integral partners within supply chains through sustained capability building, technology enablement, sustainability adoption, and responsible financial practices, including timely payments. Strengthening such collaborative ecosystems, he noted, will be critical to enhancing the competitiveness and resilience of India’s manufacturing sector.
B Thiagarajan, Managing Director, Blue Star Ltd, emphasizedon demand-linked opportunities, noting that“a model that works very well is one where assured business is made available. Our industry continues to import many components, and if we work with micro-enterprises to help them innovate, invest in them, and manufacture these imported products, it works very successfully.”
Col. Joy Choudhury, Founder & Director, We Serve Enterprises & NagaKi Products Pvt Ltd, highlighted that exposure to the CII programme enabled entrepreneurs from remote regions like Nagaland to adopt a more structured and informed approach to business. He emphasized the importance of shifting from informal practices to building awareness around creditworthiness, accessing formal finance, and strengthening entrepreneurial capabilities. He also noted the unique challenges in such regions and underscored the need for tailored models to support inclusive growth and development.In this context, the CII Centre of Excellence on Employment & Livelihood has empowered over 32 micro and small entrepreneurs in Dimapur, Nagaland.
Entrepreneurs on the panel highlighted to the stakeholders the challenges in terms of the awareness, clarity, market connect amongst other areas which was received well by the stakeholders at the session.
Industry leaders also pointed to growing collaboration opportunities between corporates and micro enterprises in supply chains and services, enabling them to scale and integrate into larger ecosystems.
The discussions reflected strong entrepreneurial aspirations and acknowledged key challenges, while highlighting CII’s national initiative through its Centre of Excellence on Employment & Livelihood (CEL) to support 1 lakh enterprises and strengthen capacity at scale.