Exporters loved the core promise of GST. They would export more as the product cost comes down through lower taxes and reduction in tax on tax incidences. But specific GST provisions nullify these gains, making exporting high cost and complex. Worse, most small firms would not qualify to export. …
Textile Min sets up institutional mechanisms to help realize full potential of textiles sector
Building on the overwhelming success of Textiles India 2017, Ministry of Textiles has set up institutional mechanisms to synergize efforts of the Ministry of Textiles, related Ministries and state governments to enable the textile industry achieve its full potential of production, exports and emp…
Agritech start-up AgriServices ropes in $10m in Series-B
Mumbai: EM3 AgriServices, a private sector farm mechanisation services company, has raised a $10 million Series B round from London-based Global Innovation Fund (GIF) and existing investor Aspada. The company had earlier raised a $3.3 million Series A from Aspada in June 2015. EM3 AgriServic…
Lending firm Five Star Business Finance bags $50 m from Sequoia Capital & others
New Delhi: Sequoia Capital India and US-based Norwest Venture Partners have led a $50 million (Rs333 crore) equity investment in Chennai-based lending firm Five Star Business Finance, the non-banking financial company said on August 9. The round accorded a post-money valuation of Rs 1,300 crore t…
Entrepreneurial ambition among the workforce is highest in India: Survey
Entrepreneurial ambition among the workforce is highest in India, with 56% of respondents in a survey indicating that they are considering leaving current jobs to start their own business. According to the Randstad Workmonitor survey, 83% of the Indian workforce would like to be an entrepreneur, …
How Microsoft Kaizala can help SMEs & start-ups manage business
Kaizala is a mobile app specifically designed for Indians by Microsoft India. Mobile penetration in India is much deeper as compared to PC usage. Also, it is expected to increase dramatically in coming years. Which means that people using mobile as primary device for conducting business will be m…
IIT-Madras Incubation Cell bags $1 m from Singapore-based company
New Delhi: A start-up born at the IIT-Madras Incubation Cell has bagged a million dollar order from a Singapore-based company to transfer technology used by its first two products. The key focus of the technologies is clinical training using virtual patients so that actual treatment becomes safer…
Odisha Govt partners with Facebook to train women entrepreneurs
Odisha will partner with Facebook to train women entrepreneurs and Self Help Groups (SHGs) to promote entrepreneurship and digital literacy, an official said on Tuesday. Facebook has agreed to partner with the state government to train altogether 25,000 Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterpr…
SAP plans to digitise 1 lakh companies in India
Technology major SAP plans to digitise 1 lakh companies in India as it believes an increasing number of small businesses will have to comply with the new tax era. The company, however, did not give a timeline by which it plans to achieve this number. This development comes close on the heels of G…
Digital payment of GST concerns SME enterprises
Newly appointed NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog Vice Chairman Dr. Rajiv Kumar on August 8 addressed the issue of digital payment of the Goods and Service Tax (GST) by the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the national capi…