CII’s Digital Saksham Initiative Drives Digital Revolution In Karnataka’s MSMEs

Mr. M Ponnuswami, Co-Chairman, CII National MSME Council, highlighted the program’s impact: “Digital Saksham Project has emerged as a game-changer for Karnataka’s MSME ecosystem. The enthusiastic adoption by local businesses reflects their readiness to embrace digital transformation. Our collaboration with Mastercard Centre for Inclusive Growth targets 300,000 MSMEs across 55 cities in eight states over three years. In Karnataka, we’re specifically focused on facilitating digital payment adoption, streamlining Udyam registrations, simplifying tax e-filing processes, enabling website development, and expanding digital trade horizons. A key milestone achieved is now micro-enterprises enrolled under Digital Saksham Project are selling their products on GeM Protal.”

The program’s transformative impact is exemplified through remarkable success stories. In Mysuru, Mrs. Kavya Kumar, a 34-year-old widow, revolutionized her small business through Digital Saksham’s interventions. By adopting digital payments and leveraging social media platforms, she accessed vital government schemes through UDYAM registration, marking a significant turnaround in her business operations.

Similarly, Mrs. Netra Nandesh from Tumkur District exemplifies entrepreneurial evolution. Starting with a modest general store, she utilized Digital Saksham’s support to establish an Areca leaf plate manufacturing unit. The program facilitated her PMEGP scheme acquisition and Udyam registration, enabling her to create employment opportunities for local women while building a robust digital presence.

The initiative continues to serve as a vital bridge between Karnataka’s micro-enterprises and digital opportunities, facilitating access to state schemes and platforms like GeM. Special trainings are given to beneficiaries on how the product is uploaded on the portal. This digital transformation journey marks a significant step towards building a more resilient and technologically advanced MSME sector in Karnataka.

About Digital Saksham

Digital Saksham is an ambitious project between Confederation of Indian Industry and Mastercard with potential reach of 300,000 MSMEs in 55 cities/districts across eight states over a three-year period. The project will focus towards enabling micro-enterprises to transform from physical to digital payments, handhold to register on Udyam portal, e-filling of the tax, building website for the products and exploring digital trade to connect beyond geographies. And resolving compliances issues. The program is targeting the Own Account Enterprises (OAEs), Micro Factory Sector Enterprises (FSEs) and Small Enterprises (SMEs) and conduct customized trainings with industry experts on the benefits of digitization.

About CII

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is a non-governmental, industry-led organization with over 9,000 members working to foster India’s development. With more than 125 years of experience, CII works with the public and private sectors as well as civil society to promote growth, form public policy, and increase competitiveness. CII prioritizes inclusion and corporate citizenship initiatives over business. CII has identified six action themes for the next 25 years, all of which fall under the umbrella of ‘Towards a Competitive and Sustainable India@100.’ With partnerships in 133 countries, 8 abroad offices, and 65 offices in India, CII is an essential resource for both the Indian business community and the international business community.

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