Lalith Mahal Palace Hotel lends marketing support to SMEs

Lalith Mahal Palace Hotel (LMPH), owned by the Indian Tourism Development Corporation has offered to procure 54 items from Micro and Small Enterprises (SMEs) under the Marketing Assistance Scheme, being promoted by the Union government.

Along with a letter issued to the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Council, in the city, recently, the hotel management has also issued the list of items required.

Joseph Mathias, general manager of LMPH, said, even in general tenders and bidding, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) get a bit of relaxation, as per the (MSME) Development Act, 2006. If the required items are not available directly from the SMEs, they will be either procured through tenders or purchased from the open market,” he said.

“Bidders under Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Development Act, 2006, are exempt from payment of tender form fee and EMD deposit, if they enclose requisite certificate issued by the authorities concerned. The MSMEs also get some more concessions and relaxations,” as per an advertisement on the LMPH website.

As per a notification of the Union government, SMEs, which are facing a tough competition from multinational and large sector firms marketing industrial goods and services, need support. SMEs need support in the field of innovation and technology upgrade, appropriate credit facility, skill development and market. Besides, SMEs also deserve encouragement to become competitive by improving quality and cost reduction and also delivering the goods and services well in time as per the agreement with the buyers.

To provide marketing support to this sector, the Union Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises introduced the Public Procurement Policy 2012 under Section 11 of MSME Development Act, 2006. According to the policy, all Central ministries, government departments and CPSUs should procure a minimum of 20% of store items from the MSME sector and 4% of the total procurement should be from MSMEs owned by SC/ST entrepreneurs. This policy is mandatory after April 1, 2015.

Speaking to DH, general secretary of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Council in Mysuru, Suresh Kumar Jain said, this is the first time the LMPH has issued a circular to procure items from SMEs. “All government agencies are mandated to procure required items from SMEs as far as possible. But, not many agencies follow the rules. However, earlier, the state government owned Mysuru Varnish and Paints Limited had sought the assistance of the council to procure caps for its indelible ink vials. The private sector Rane Madras had also sought the help of the council for procurement of a few items earlier,” said Jain.

At least 6,000 varieties of products are churned out by the SME sector in Mysuru district alone, but the council does not have a database of those who have not enrolled. “I have sent emails to at least 8,000 firms across Karnataka from my own contacts. The SME sector will get a boost if such establishments directly procure necessary products from the firms,” he said.