ET Business Growth Summit Noida highlights industrial resilience, jobs and skilling as key growth priorities

The ET Business Growth Summit in Noida, the second stop of the 18-city national series, witnessed strong participation from industry leaders, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and business stakeholders, highlighting the resilience and growth potential of the region’s industrial ecosystem.

The summit brought together voices from government, manufacturing, start-ups, and the MSME (micro, small, and medium enterprise) sector to discuss the opportunities and challenges shaping India’s next phase of economic growth, with a particular focus on manufacturing, employment, entrepreneurship, skilling, and technology.

The event opened with an address by Tejpal Singh Nagar, MLA, Dadri, who emphasised the need for India to build a strong industrial culture, driven by innovation, quality, technology, and competitiveness.


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“India must develop an industrial culture where innovation, quality, technology, and competitiveness become its defining strengths. True progress comes when large industries grow alongside MSMEs and start-ups,” Nagar said.

Nagar added that industrial growth must be broad-based and noted that Noida and Greater Noida have emerged as important centres for nurturing such ecosystems. He also urged industrialists in the region to create more employment opportunities for local youth.

Gopal Krishna Agarwal, National Spokesperson (Economic Affairs) of the Bharatiya Janata Party, who also addressed the summit, said that while the government is pursuing reforms and free trade agreements (FTAs), employment generation remains a key challenge.

“The government is working closely on reforms and FTAs (free trade agreements). Despite such initiatives, the problem of unemployment persists. If this issue has to be tackled, then the manufacturing sector needs to progress effectively,” Agarwal said.

He also highlighted Gautam Buddh Nagar’s strategic advantages, including its connectivity with major cities and access to educational institutions and a growing presence of manufacturing companies and multinational corporations.

The session was followed by a fireside chat with Bhanu Chopra, Founder & MD, RateGain, who shared insights from his entrepreneurial journey and the evolution of his travel technology company.

Chopra said achieving scale can help businesses overcome several challenges and recalled the transformation his company experienced after moving beyond the bootstrapped phase.

“I realised that growth solves all challenges. I traded finally after being bootstrapped, and that was a transformative moment for me. Today, we do pretty much everything that is important for the travel industry,” Chopra said.

He also spoke about the uncertainties entrepreneurs face during their journeys and stressed the importance of realistic goals and risk-taking ability.

The summit then featured a presentation by C.S. Arya, General Manager, IDBI Bank, offering insights into banking and lending opportunities for businesses.

An insightful panel discussion brought together Jitendra Singh Rana, Chairman, B2B, Indian Industries Association (IIA); Prerna Kalra, Co-Founder and CEO, Daalchini Technologies; and Manjula Mishra, Founder and Managing Director, Holosafe Security Labels Pvt. Ltd who also represented Laghu Udyog Bharati (LBU).

Rana described Noida as a highly attractive destination for entrepreneurs, citing the availability of infrastructure, facilities, and incentives required for businesses to expand.

“Noida is heaven for entrepreneurs as it has all the key facilities and incentives needed for businesses to grow,” Rana said.

The discussion also focused on the availability of skilled talent and the need to prepare the workforce for emerging technologies.

Kalra highlighted the importance of talent and resilience for entrepreneurs and said artificial intelligence is increasingly helping businesses train and develop their workforce.

“Talent is available, but well-trained resources who can be productive from day 1 are key,” Kalra said, adding that AI is helping entrepreneurs train talent more effectively.

Mishra stressed the need to bridge the industry-academia gap and develop skills among the local population to meet industry requirements.

“One solution is training the local population to meet the requirements of the industry. There is a skill gap currently. The industry-academia gap must be bridged to meet such requirements,” she said.

The discussions at the summit reflected the broader priorities of India’s business ecosystem—strengthening manufacturing, creating jobs, developing a future-ready workforce, supporting MSMEs & start-ups, and using technology to improve productivity.

The ET Business Growth Summit-Noida concluded on a strong note, with industry leaders emphasising greater collaboration among businesses, policymakers, and institutions to unlock the region’s growth potential. The event was sponsored by IDBI Bank as the Banking & Lending Partner.

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The next stop of the 18-city national series will be Bengaluru on August 20, 2026, as the ET Business Growth Summit continues its effort to bring business leaders and entrepreneurs together to discuss the opportunities and challenges shaping India’s growth story.