Overview

The years 2020 and 2021 have been rough for small and medium sized businesses. The disruptions caused by the pandemic brought to the forefront the sector’s financial fragility. According to a Local Circles survey, 59 per cent startups and MSMEs might scale down or sell off or shut down their operations in the next six months. Another report by Parliamentary Standing Committee found that 25 per cent of MSME loans could slip into default due to their inability to draw working capital from banks. The single biggest reason is acute cash crunch faced by the firms due to fall in business.

We, at Financial Express Online, are cognizant of the problems faced by the SMEs and have conceptualized SME Artha (‘Artha’ in Sanskrit means wealth and property) to offer our community with solutions on managing their finances.

The two-day event will discuss how the sector, which is the backbone of the Indian economy, can get access to funds when they need it the most and at the lowest cost possible.

The panels will deep dive into the new models of cash flow lending, need for collateral-free loans and how SMEs can leverage capital markets for funds.