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India introduced many government schemes for MSMEs to help enterprises survive COVID-19. These schemes offered financial and advisory support, fast-tracked patent registration, training programmes, etc. MSME Prerana is one such scheme that offers a business mentoring programme for MSMEs for a subsidised price.
What is MSME Prerana scheme?
A business mentoring programme, the scheme offers training sessions for MSME owners/entrepreneurs on the managerial, financial and banking related aspects of business. Launched by the Indian Bank, a public sector bank, on October 6, 2020, this programme is conducted in different states of India in local languages.
This programme a joint effort by Indian Bank, Poornatha & Co and MADE (Michigan Academy for Developing Entrepreneurs), USA. Poornatha & Co is a business and leadership education company based in India.
Objectives of the scheme
The main objective of the MSME Prerana scheme is to upskill MSME entrepreneurs, make them tutor them in all business aspects and refine their existing business skills. Here are the main objectives of the scheme as set by Indian Bank:
- Educate MSMEs on the measures initiated by Ministry/Reserve Bank of India and other banks
- Discuss the concepts of financial and managerial aspects of managing an MSME unit
- Help MSMEs understand the concepts of due diligence, credit assessment, compliance and risk mitigation
- Prepare MSMEs with necessary skills required for professional conduct of business
Benefits of MSME Prerana scheme
MSME entrepreneurs looking to join the programme will be able to learn a lot of business concepts, almost similar to taking an online business course. The advantage here is that the programme fee will be significantly less compared to an online business course.
Here are a few benefits of the scheme for MSME entrepreneurs:
- Easy to understand content delivered in your own language
- Virtual classes that can be attended from anywhere
- Learn about the major new initiatives of Government of India, Reserve Bank of India etc.
- Understand balance sheet, ratios, income statement, cash flow, working capital management, receivable and inventory management
- Learn structured decision-making skills, stakeholder alignment and effective ways to communicate
- Learn the importance of adapting to change, stages of change and crisis time leadership
- Find out how to apply risk management framework, continuous improvement framework and reflective learning techniques.
- Understand MSME registration, grievance redressal, due diligence banking compliance, credit facilities and significance of rating
Syllabus of the MSME Prerana training programme
The programme will cover managerial, financial and banking related aspects of conducting a business:
Financial
- Understanding of basic components of a balance sheet, cash flow management, working capital management and accounting of financial transactions
Managerial
- Building confidence and enhancing communication skills
- Structured decision-making tools covering HR and Leadership
- Surviving in a VUCA world (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous)
- Crisis handling
Banking
- Awareness on various incentives by Government of India/RBI/banks
- Analysing various credit facilities and their assessment, importance of credit rating
- Registration on various portals like Udyami Mitra, GST, TReDS, PSB loans in 59 minutes
You can visit the Indian bank website to know the syllabus in detail. The sessions on managerial and financial skills will be conducted by Poornatha & Co while the banking related topics will be handled by Indian Bank.
Programme fee
- Free for SC/ST/women entrepreneurs
- Other entrepreneurs will be charged ₹2360 (including GST at 18 %) per participant
Eligibility and documents
There is no mention of a specific eligibility criteria in the brochure released by Indian bank and Poornatha. However, the MSME Prerna description on both companies’ website mentions the term MSME entrepreneurs.
This means that all entrepreneurs with small business establishments are welcome to join the course. However, it is not clear whether entrepreneurs looking to start companies are invited to participate. Like all other courses, you will have to give your ID proof and educational documents. Business owners might be asked to present MSME registration certificate.
How to apply?
There is no official MSME Prerana portal yet. To apply you have to visit the Poornatha website. Follow these steps to apply:
- Go to https://poornatha.com/msme_prerana
- Scroll down the page until you find a question ‘Who is it for?’
- You will be able to see a short application form with a blue ‘Apply’ button right below it
- Fill in the form and click on ‘Apply’
The duration of the course will be 12 sessions of 1 hour 15 minutes each. It is an online course that will be conducted through Webex/MS Teams. On completion of the course all participants would get a certificate, issued jointly by Indian Bank, Poornatha & Co and MADE.
MSME Prerana is a scheme proposed by the Indian Bank to better serve its customer base of 16 lakh MSMEs. This is a scheme for MSME entrepreneurs that was proposed to provide knowledge-based support to MSMEs to help them survive the pandemic.
FAQs
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Priyanka is a seasoned content marketing professional with more than 6 years of experience crafting various forms of business and technology sector content. Her insightful writing tackles critical issues faced by small-scale manufacturing businesses. Priyanka’s clear and concise communication empowers businesses to make informed decisions and thrive in today’s dynamic business environment.
