71% of manufacturing MSMEs say government skills training programs don’t help: Report
According to a report by Cushman & Wakefield, the government’s skills and talent programs have not effectively reached the micro and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) engaged in manufacturing activities, as the staggering 71% of small companies said government-run skills training programs did not help them.
The report notes that about 61% of MSMEs say the government’s skills and talent initiatives have not reached them yet, while 39% are sure they have received benefits.
The report says, “Improving manufacturing resilience in India: A report on “Elevating manufacturing paths in India” has been drawn for the road to self-reliance, and our survey shows that government skills and talent programs are not effectively reaching the industry. There are 71% of small companies with the gap is the largest.
The survey of small and medium-sized companies has less than 500 employees.
MSME hired four of five manufacturing workers and generated 40% of the industry’s output. However, each worker in MSME produces only 14% of large-scale factory workers, the report added.
Similar manufacturers in emerging economies have reached nearly 30%. The report observes that in developed economies, the gap is even smaller.
In addition to various skilled programs, the government has also used Rs 1.2 billion of Rs 1.2 billion to plug-in parks in 12 areas to speed up the program setup, Slash Capex, helping small and medium-sized businesses and attracting FDI.
On the other hand, about 88% of respondents said government infrastructure spending has affected their capital expenditure plans.
93% of respondents reported better operational efficiency and profitability in modern parks and corridors.
It is worth noting that 88% of respondents plan to expand operations, driven by infrastructure projects such as Bharatmala, Sagarmala, dedicated freight corridors and national industrial corridor development.
“India must address the deep-rooted cost and capacity gaps, especially logistics, integrated facilities and MSME productivity. Plug-in industrial parks, multimodal logistics networks and improved land
Aggregation frameworks are not only promoters; they are an essential leverage to convert policy momentum into production-ready results,” said Kushman and Wakefield, executive chairman of Mumbai and New Business.
Additionally, 95% reported an increase in progress on logistics, while 94% of large enterprises upgraded infrastructure at the heart of their growth strategies.
Despite these advances, critical challenges remain. High logistics costs, low warehousing capacity (0.2 square feet per city resident, 47.3 in the U.S.), minimal domestic value increase (25% in China than 25% in China) and skills gaps, especially in MSMES, threaten long-term competitiveness.
