ET Make in India SME Regional Summit, Chandigarh: Renewed optimism in Punjab’s business ecosystem as innovation takes centre stage

The ET Make in India SME Regional Summit in Chandigarh, the third edition in FY 2025-26, was held on August 7, bringing together industry leaders, SME associations, and small business owners to share ideas and chart a collective roadmap for industrial growth and national development.

The ET Make in India SME Regional Summit is a nationwide series of on-ground events designed to connect local micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) with policymakers, enablers, and key industry stakeholders. The mission is to highlight emerging opportunities, address pressing challenges, and facilitate impactful knowledge-sharing and networking to drive the next wave of growth for Indian MSMEs.

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The summit in Chandigarh began with an insightful keynote address by Shailendra K. Tyagi, Director of STPI, Mohali, Ministry of Electronics & IT, who spoke about the overall entrepreneurial ecosystem in Chandigarh and Punjab while outlining the central government’s initiatives to foster its growth.
“Punjab has long been synonymous with enterprise, resilience, and hard work. From spearheading India’s Green Revolution to developing a strong manufacturing base, the state’s contribution to the nation’s economy remains unmatched,” said Tyagi.

“Under the ‘Make in India’ and ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ initiatives, Punjab’s traditional strengths in automobiles, textiles, and agro-processing are gaining renewed momentum, bolstered by support from the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme,” added Tyagi.

After the keynote, Vivek Verma, Vice Chairman, CII Chandigarh, and Managing Director of Spray Engineering Devices Ltd., delivered a special address. In his address, he emphasised the remarkable growth of MSMEs in the region over the years and highlighted the need to fully harness the potential of agri-based sector.

“This region is home to numerous agri-based industries and is a leader in the sector. However, agro-processing remains underdeveloped, and the focus now must be on ensuring that all raw materials grown here are processed locally to create high-value products,” said Verma.

This was followed by an intriguing fireside chat with Nagaraj Garla, Executive Director, IDBI Bank, on the topic ‘Catalysing Make in India Growth: IDBI Bank’s Strategic Imperatives for Empowering MSMEs’.
Garla addressed several financial challenges facing the sector, highlighting the bank’s initiatives, including i-MSME Express, designed to improve cash flow for MSMEs, and emphasising the critical role technology has played in making this possible. “Effective cash flow management is often the defining factor between the success and failure of an MSME. Financial discipline is key for the success of a business,” he said.

Vikas Gupta, Senior Sales Manager, BIS Channel at Canon India, then took the stage with his presentation on ‘Making Business Simple with Canon’. He provided helpful details about next-generation printing technologies featuring advanced security layers, highlighting how these innovations can enable entrepreneurs to establish a unique identity and strengthen their competitive advantage.
This was followed by an engaging panel discussion titled “Chandigarh & Beyond: Strengthening Regional MSME Ecosystems in North India”, where local industry leaders and association heads came together to share perspectives and strategies for regional growth.

Somveer Anand, CEO, Innovation Mission Punjab, expressed optimism about the evolving entrepreneurial and innovation landscape in Chandigarh and Punjab. He said, “Punjab has some of the best entrepreneurs in the country, but the challenge is that they don’t remain in the state.”

“It’s the entrepreneur’s responsibility to identify the right talent pools, participate in the right programmes, and ultimately find compelling reasons to build their ventures in Punjab,” said Anand.
Dilpreet Singh Boparai, General Secretary of the Mohali Industries Association (MIA), stressed the importance of promoting export literacy in Chandigarh. While policies may look promising on paper, he noted, their effective implementation depends on properly understanding and decoding them, he said. “Sector-specific subvention schemes could significantly boost Chandigarh’s MSMEs, and the government should work towards effectively implementing them,” added Boparai.

Arush Chopra, Co-founder of Just Herbs, discussed the opportunities and challenges facing entrepreneurs in Chandigarh and Punjab, emphasising the need to do more to unlock the region’s untapped potential.

“We don’t need to reinvent the wheel for building an entrepreneurial ecosystem; it should be developed from the ground up. In Chandigarh’s case, policies do matter, but it’s equally important to brand the city in a way that draws people to its ecosystem,” said Chopra.
Shefali Dhiman, Co-founder of Flaura Essentials, highlighted the gap between innovation programmes and industry in Chandigarh. She noted that while opportunities exist, many start-up founders are unaware of them, and the lack of networking platforms hampers their ability to scale up.

“A crucial aspect often overlooked by brands is prioritising the consumer from day one. While most founders start with a clear vision of the consumer journey, that focus often diminishes as the business scales,” added Dhiman.

The panel discussion followed a fireside chat with Saurabh Munjal, Co-founder & CEO, Archian Foods Pvt. Ltd (Lahori Zeera), who shared the success story of his venture and how he and his co-founder crafted a business strategy to compete with some of the biggest brands in the segment. “India’s diversity changes every 100 km, offering a mix of unique flavours. We recognised this early and capitalised on local tastes and market preferences,” said Munjal.
“For a business to succeed, you need the right product, the right price, and strong distribution. If the product is good and priced well, retailers will be willing to stock it,” added Munjal.

The final session of the evening was a presentation by C.S. Arya (General Manager) and Jasmeet Singh (Manager), Credit Solution Centre, IDBI Bank, highlighting the organisation's initiatives, outreach, and tools that empower MSMEs.
This marked the successful conclusion of the fourth event in this year’s ET Make in India SME Regional Summit series, held in Chandigarh.

The event sponsors were IDBI Bank as Banking & Lending Partner and Canon as Tech Enabler. The Summit now heads to Kolkata on September 4, 2025, for another round of conversations, discussions, and learning in the ET SME Make in India pan-India series.

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