Mathur Ritika Passi

A funding gap of over $400 billion
exists in the MSME sector
Hand in Hand - Clay Figurine Making enterprise/McKay Savage/Flickr/Creative Commons
Africa in 2013-14, followed by South Asia
at 19%. 31
Achieving the 3 'I's of Goal 9
For India to achieve the targets of Goal 9 in
its national context, it must address three
overarching challenges. The first of these
challenges is that of finance. Be it building
the three layers of infrastructure, scaling up
operations of MSMEs or developing new-age
technologies, making finance available and
accessible must be given the highest priority.
With the government finding it difficult to
maintain a fiscal deficit of 3.99%, 32 it is not
only important that public resources be used
effectively and efficiently, but it is imperative
the government build an economic
environment where private finance (both
domestic and foreign) is able to flourish.
The second challenge is that of monitoring
implementation. It has often been the case
that after policy formulation, there is little
follow-up on how well these policies are
being implemented (as noted in the section
on fostering innovation). The government,
therefore, needs to undertake accurate and
timely data collection and ensure smooth
coordination between ministries and
departments on the one hand, and between
the Central government and various state
governments on the other.
Lastly, India can only achieve so much
through ‘building’—building infrastructure,
building branch bank offices close to
MSMEs, building R&D institutions. There
needs to be a complementary behavioural
change amongst the citizens to use the
toilets that are built, to engage with bank
branches that are accessible, and to enrol in
R&D institutions that are established.
More specifically on the sustainability
component, India will need to have its own
definition of ‘sustainable development.’
For the better part of the fifteen-year
period, India will only have just begun its
industrialisation process. Thus, its emphasis
will be on social policy imperatives, with
the aim of lifting as many people out
of poverty as possible. It is in only the
latter part of this period, when the Indian
populace enjoys greater purchasing power,
that the country can embark upon the
greater ambition around the environmental
goals.
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