ET Make in India SME Summit in Belagavi spotlights city’s manufacturing strengths

The ET Make in India SME Regional Summit in Belagavi on November 28 drew a strong turnout of local stakeholders, who engaged in sessions showcasing the strength, diversity, talent, and resilience of Karnataka’s MSME ecosystem.

The ET Make in India SME Regional Summit is a series of 20 nationwide on-ground events that aims to identify emerging opportunities, address key challenges, and enable meaningful knowledge-sharing and networking to help accelerate growth across the MSME sector.
The Belagavi Summit began with a keynote address by Fredrick F Nazareth, Assistant Commissioner, CGST City Division, Belagavi, on the topic “Empowering enterprise: How Government initiatives are fuelling MSME growth.”


“The GST framework impacts thousands of us, and we have a pivotal role in shaping a conducive environment for businesses to thrive. To sustain this momentum, MSMEs and the GST ecosystem must work in synergy,” said Nazareth.

“Compliance should not be viewed as a burden or a challenge; it should be seen as a bridge to growth and opportunity,” added Nazareth.

The next segment featured a special address by Bharat B, Deputy Director, District Industries Center, Belagavi. “Karnataka is among the first states to introduce a dedicated space-tech policy, encouraging startups and industries to grow within this emerging sector,” said Bharat.

“This year, the Karnataka government introduced special incentives addressing stamp duty and offering a bio-subsidy. A major reform benefiting MSMEs is the overhaul of land regulations,” added Bharat.

Thereafter, experts and industry leaders come together for an exciting panel discussion on “Vision 2030: Opportunities, challenges, and the road ahead for industrial MSMEs.”

Sachin Sabnis, All India Vice President, Laghu Udyog Bharati, said, “Scaling up technology upgradation is essential for industry to meet Vision 2030’s global manufacturing benchmarks.” He added, “Belagavi is dominated by micro and small industries, and financial challenges are naturally more pronounced here due to the nature of these businesses.”

“Public procurement policy remains a largely untapped opportunity in Belagavi,” said H Rudraswamy, Branch Head, National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC), Belagavi. He added that NSIC ensures every industrial unit in the region receives proper guidance and handholding to help them scale faster.

“Industry 4.0 is inevitable, and MSMEs must be prepared for it. If strong, robust processes are built from the beginning, it will significantly help them scale to the next level,” said D S Mohan, CEO, SQuAD Forging India. “In the long run, it all comes down to processes. Not everyone can achieve perfection in every area, but building robust processes is what will make us globally competitive,” added Mohan.

C C Hondadkatti, Sub-Committee Chairman, Karnataka Small Scale Industries Association (KASSIA) Belagavi chapter, said, “Industrial infrastructure continues to be a challenge in Belagavi, and we expect the government to proactively address this to support local companies.” Hondadkatti also emphasised the need for industries to work in unison and operate on a common platform.

This followed a presentation by C S Arya, General Manager, IDBI Bank, which highlighted the organisation's initiatives, outreach and tools empowering MSMEs.

Thereafter was the second panel discussion of the event on “Belagavi 2.0: How new-age companies are redefining innovation in India’s manufacturing heartland.”

“We can’t afford to operate in silos and this applies to everyone,” said Ajit Patil, Founder & CEO, Rivot Motors. “Belagavi has a tremendous amount of metalwork happening here, and I am proud that all my metal components come from Belagavi. It’s a great place for setting up an EV unit,” added Patil.

Rohan Juvali, Ex-President, Belgaum Chamber of Commerce & Industries (BCCI), said, “Belagavi is geographically well-connected to Goa, Maharashtra and the rest of Karnataka. We also have one of the oldest airports in the region. Industries here have emerged and grown on their own.” He added, “Belagavi’s foundational ecosystem, its technology base and skilled workforce built over many years, has strengthened the district to the point where we are now the second-largest exporters in the state.”

Rahul Patil, Founder & CEO, Sarus Aerospace, said, “Sarus Aerospace has grown over the years despite aerospace being one of the sectors with the highest entry barriers in manufacturing. We started from scratch, and even our labour force is entirely hired locally. This shows that Belagavi has immense potential, not just in terms of its basic ecosystem but also in skilled manpower.”

The ET Make in India SME Regional Summit in Belagavi concluded successfully, highlighting how MSMEs in the region can leverage their strengths and collaborate to grow collectively. The summit provided a key platform for industry experts to share insights and offered numerous networking opportunities for small businesses in the city.

The event was sponsored by IDBI Bank as the Banking & Lending Partner with support from the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises. The series now moves to Hyderabad on December 5, continuing its pan-India journey of discussions, learning, and industry engagement under the ET SME Make in India initiative.