COVID 19 impact is all about studying the influence of COVID 19 on Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Tamilnadu. IIT Madras joined hands with industry bodies to take up this study.

The Institute is partnering with ConsoTree, a pioneer in Research and Industry Development; and industry bodies – Tamil Nadu Small and Tiny Industries Association (TANSTIA), an apex body of MSMEs, and district level bodies including Coimbatore District Small Industries Association (CODITSSIA) and Madurai District Tiny and Small Scale Industries Association (MADITSSIA) to take up this COVID 19 impact research.

The Plan of Action for the COVID 19 impact research study has been finalised by Dr. Subash Sasidharan and Dr. Santosh Kumar Sahu of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Madras, and Mr. R.K. Jeyabalan Chief Strategist and Executive Director of ConsoTree, its Directors Mr. Rajesh Srinivasan and Dr Sridhar Shanmugam along with office bearers of TANSTIA – Mr. Anburajan S, CODITSSIA – Mr. R. Rama Murthy and MADITSSIA – Mr. B Murganantham.

This COVID 19 impact research is being led by IIT Madras Department of Humanities and Social Sciences Faculty, Dr. Subash Sasidharan, Associate Professor of Economics and Dr. Santosh Kumar Sahu, Assistant Professor of Economics.

Based on the outcome of the COVID 19 impact research, the the plan is to outline the immediate and long-run policy initiatives for the MSMEs in Tamil Nadu in order to overcome the economic shock due to the pandemic.

COVID 19 impact research is expected to complete in four weeks. As Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a package for the MSME sector, this COVID 19 research will be a time-bound study for understanding the resilience of the MSMEs in Tamil Nadu.

The disruption caused by COVID 19 on MSME sector is said to be of a major concern. Moreover, Tamil Nadu accounts for one of the largest number of MSMEs in the country with more than 6.89 lakh registered enterprises.

This, in turn, accounts for more than 15 per cent of the total MSMEs in India. Taking this significance of MSMEs into account the impact caused by COVID 19 is a major concern for MSMEs.

Based on this COVID 19 impact research outcome, the team plans to analyse the Adaptation and Coping Strategies to overcome the shock due to the pandemic, which could help in quick recovery of the MSMEs in Tamil Nadu.

Speaking about COVID 19 impact research Dr. Subash Sasidharan said MSME sector is the largest employer in the country.

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The survival of these enterprises are at stake due to this pandemic. Therefore, there is an urgent need to undertake research to analyse the challenges of these enterprises in detail, he said.

Speaking further on COVID 19 impact research Dr. Santosh Kumar Sahu said given the contribution of MSMEs in employment, output and export is significant, an early revival of this sector is the key to the road to recovery.

This kind of voluntary industry-academia collaboration with regards to the COVID 19 impact research is expected to further stimulate such research efforts in other states, which will be useful to formulate national level strategies to strengthen the MSME sector in the post-COVID-19 scenario.

The first phase of the lock down witnessed a revenue shortfall of more than 44 per cent in the Tamil Nadu MSMEs sector.

The extension of the lock down may further increase the revenue loss to more than 60 per cent. This pandemic created an unprecedented crisis to the MSMEs in Tamil Nadu, with a severe shortage of working capital, which includes delay in payments, shortage of labour and acute disruption in the supply chain.

About IIT Madras

Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM) was established in 1959 by the Government of India as an institute of national importance.

The activities of the Institute in various fields of Technology and Science are carried out in 16 academic departments and several advanced interdisciplinary Research Academic Centres.

The Institute offers undergraduate and post – graduate programmes leading to the B.Tech., M.Sc., M.B.A., M.Tech., M.S., and Ph.D., degrees in a variety of specialisations.

IITM is a residential institute with more than 580 faculty and 9,500 students. Students from 18 countries are enrolled here.

IITM fosters an active entrepreneurial culture with strong curricular support and through the IITM Incubation Cell.

IITM has been ranked No.1 in the Overall Institutions category in India Rankings 2019 released by National Institutional Ranking Framework, Ministry of Human Resources Development, Government of India.

The Institute has also been ranked No.1 in the Engineering Institutions category in the same Rankings for four consecutive years – 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.

It was also adjudged as the ‘Top innovative Institution’ in the country in the Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) 2019 launched by Innovation Cell of MHRD.

S. Vishnu Sharma

S Vishnu Sharmaa now works with collegechalo.com in the news team. His work involves writing articles related to the education... (Full bio)