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The recent awards ceremony in Mumbai lauded 19 SMEs from 16 cities. <p></p> <p> In its 48th year, IPF, India's largest circulated industrial magazine, hosted its 4th IPF Industrial Excellence Awards in Mumbai during which 19 SMEs from 16 Indian cities were honoured for their achievements during the year. </p> <p>The 2020 edition of the awards was held in the presence of <span style="font-weight: bold;">Guest of Honour Naseem Sharifi, Consul General of Afghanistan;</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Bhavesh Thakkar, Partner (Tax and Regulatory), Ernst and Young LLP; and Rachana Bhusari, Vice President-SMEs, National Stock Exchange of India (NSE).</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Every year, the awards are presented in two categories: </span><br /> &quot;Fastest Growing Manufacturing Companies&quot; (under Rs 5 billion turnover) and &quot;Innovative Products&quot;. This year, in addition to these, IPF presented awards in two new categories &quot; Promising Start-Up of the Year&quot;and &quot;Entrepreneur of the Year&quot; (Female and Male) &quot; to recognise and appreciate the contribution of start-ups and entrepreneurs to job creation and economic growth.</p> <p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Mohini Kelkar, Managing Director, Grind Master Group,</span> was named IPF Female Entrepreneur of the Year, while <span style="font-weight: bold;">Jignesh Raval, Managing Director, Sintercom,</span> was IPF Male Entrepreneur of the Year. The winners were selected by a jury panel comprising eminent personalities from the industry and engineering institutes.</p> <p>Congratulating the winners, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Guest of Honour Naseem Sharifi </span>said, &quot;India and Afghanistan have strong bilateral relations for decades and India has been an active trading partner. Currently, India's exports to Afghanistan amount to about $700 million and Afghan exports to India have increased by 60 per cent. We respect India's love for our products like saffron. With bilateral trade, India is rebuilding Afghanistan.&quot;</p> <p>Highlighting areas where SMEs can empower themselves, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Pratap Padode, Founder &amp; President, Foundation of Infrastructure Research Studies Training (FIRST),</span> said,&quot;SMEs being the backbone of the Indian economy will always strive to think: &quot;What can I do apart from what I do?&quot; Just one per cent of SMEs today with business below Rs 2.5 billion are filing their yearly returns. If they increase, tax collection increases. Higher tax collection will result in more schemes and more schemes will help SMEs grow.&quot; He went on to add that availing credit facility, use of inferior technology and access to the right marketplaces for their products are some major challenges to SME growth in India.</p> <p>ECGC was the Associate Partner of the event, while NSE and CARE Ratings were the Exchange Partner and Knowledge Partner, respectively. Besides, leading industry associations like Plastics Machinery Manufacturers Association of India (PMMAI), Pimpri-Chinchwad Plastic Association (PCPA), MAIT (Manufacturers&quot;Association for Information Technology), MRO Association of India and Federation of Associations of Maharashtra (FAM) extended their support to the event.</p> <p> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Coping with challenges</span><br /> IPF also hosted a highly engaging &quot;CEO Forum&quot;panel discussion on the theme &quot;Essential Survival Strategies for SMEs&quot;.</p> <p>The panel discussion was moderated by <span style="font-weight: bold;">Saikat Roy, Director &amp; Head-SME, CARE Ratings.</span> </p> <p>The panellists &quot; including <span style="font-weight: bold;">Rachana Bhusari; Mohini Kelkar; Nitin Pangam, CEO, Maeflower Consulting; Vijayanand Choudhury, Global Head Procurement, Tata Technologies; and Neeti Sharma, Senior Vice President, TeamLease Services &quot;</span> discussed some imminent challenges before SMEs and strategies to thrive in challenging market conditions.</p> <p><img src="/images/table1.jpg" /></p>