Jairam Varadaraj, MD, ELGI Equipments with Raghuvir Srinivasan, Editor, The Hindu businessline at thehindubusinessline MSME Growth Conclave Coimbatore-2026.
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Innovation-led growth, technology adoption and stronger regional industrial collaboration emerged as the key themes at the fifth edition of The Hindu businessline’s MSME Growth Conclave, co-powered by the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) and Central Bank of India, held in Coimbatore on Saturday.Setting the context, Jairam Varadaraj, Managing Director of ELGI Equipments, in his keynote address, said Indian companies must stop depending on government support and low-cost manufacturing as their primary growth strategy and instead focus on building globally competitive, innovation-led businesses.He urged companies to move away from ‘Me-too’ products and create ‘Me-First products’ by identifying customers’ unstated needs rather than merely responding to existing demand. Businesses, he said, should build capabilities based on ‘know why’ — deep scientific understanding — rather than just ‘know how’, and look beyond India’s relatively small domestic market to tap global opportunities.Three challengesRavichandran Purushothaman, Chairman of CII Southern Region and President of Danfoss India, identified three major challenges confronting MSMEs — shortage of skilled manpower, rising electricity costs and uncertainty in order inflows. He called on MSMEs to invest in digital technologies, automation and energy-efficient solutions to improve productivity and operational visibility.Rather than concentrating on asset ownership, entrepreneurs should build businesses around knowledge, IP and scalable business models, which he described as the ‘new money’ that would define future competitiveness. He also stressed the importance of corporate governance, stock market listing and stronger cash generation instead of focussing solely on topline growth, he said in a conversation with Richa Mishra, Resident Editor, businessline.Kerala callingMaking a pitch for Kerala as an investment destination, Arun K Vijayan, Director of Industries and Managing Director of KSIDC, said the State was positioning itself as the next major manufacturing hub through the proposed Integrated Manufacturing Cluster at Palakkad. The panel on ‘Financing in the time of war’, pointed to the difficulties faced by a large number of micro and small industries in accessing finance due to lack of awareness and bureaucratic hurdles.an opportunityIn the panel discussion on clean mobility, the panelists said that clean mobility was more an opportunity than a threat. Since vehicle owning itself is yet to cover much of India’s opportunity, there is a big market emerging for e-vehicles and therefore for MSMEs.The Associate Partners of the event were Bank of Baroda, Tally Solutions, SSVM Institutions, Indian Overseas Bank, Salzer Electronics Limited, South Indian Bank, Turbo Engineers, Zorian Systems, Suguna Pumps & Motors, Malles Construction, eRoyce Motors India, and Ruh Continuum School.The Realty Partner is G Square and Lifestyle Partner is Lexus.Published on June 27, 2026
