MSMEs to drive Telangana’s next phase of growth: Industries Director
Hyderabad, Sept 19 (TNT): Telangana’s next phase of economic growth will be driven by micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), Director of Industries Nikhil Chakravarthi said on Saturday, stressing the need to shift from “ease of doing business” to “speed of doing business”.
Addressing the 9th CII Telangana MSME Summit 2026, organised on the theme “MSMEs for Telangana Rising: Innovate, Scale & Compete Globally”, Chakravarthi said the state was pursuing a comprehensive MSME growth agenda focused on finance, land, skills, logistics, technology and market access.
He said MSMEs would play a central role in achieving Telangana’s Vision 2047 growth ambitions, with new industrial, electronics, aerospace and defence and other sector-specific policies in the pipeline.
The state was also planning to expand industrial parks, testing facilities and logistics infrastructure besides establishing a digital employment exchange, he said.
CII Telangana Chairman and Executive Vice Chairman of Resustainability Ltd M Goutham Reddy said MSMEs needed to innovate, scale and compete globally while maintaining environmental sustainability.
He urged MSMEs to leverage research institutions, digital transformation and stronger financing ecosystems to accelerate growth and expand from local markets to global customers. Sustainability, he said, should be treated as a business imperative.
CII Telangana MSME and EoDB Panel Convenor and Managing Director of Appidi Technologies Pvt Ltd AVS Reddy said the next phase of Telangana’s economic growth would depend on enabling MSMEs to innovate, scale and compete globally.
He stressed the need for MSMEs to transition from founder-driven businesses to professionally managed enterprises and highlighted technology adoption, access to finance, skilled talent, quality standards and stronger industry-research linkages as key enablers.
Advisor to the National Skill Development Corporation and Founder Chancellor of Udham Singh Shaheed Skill Development and Entrepreneurship University, Punjab, Dr Sandeep Singh Kaura called for stronger academia-MSME partnerships to build a sustainable talent pipeline.
He said industry-integrated learning, shared university infrastructure, continuous upskilling and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, automation and Industry 4.0 would be important for making graduates industry-ready.
Dr Shailaja Donempudi, Distinguished Scientist and Head of Business Development Group, CSIR, Ministry of Science and Technology, called for MSMEs to move from being technology users to technology owners.
She stressed the need for stronger industry-research collaboration, joint problem-solving, technology maturation, intellectual property creation, testing and certification to take innovations from laboratories to commercial markets.
CII Telangana MSME Panel Co-Convenor and Managing Director of Precision Electronics Components Manufacturing Co Rajiv Venkatraman said a strong MSME ecosystem should enable enterprises to access finance, technology, talent, infrastructure and markets while expanding growth beyond Hyderabad.
He highlighted AI, automation, digitisation and integration with global value chains as key factors in building future-ready MSMEs.
The summit brought together government representatives, industry leaders, entrepreneurs and other stakeholders to deliberate on finance, technology, skills, innovation, infrastructure and market access, with a focus on strengthening Telangana’s MSME ecosystem and enabling enterprises to compete in domestic and global markets.
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