The SMiEs (small and micro enterprises) in India play an important role in the national economy. It offers the largest employment opportunities, next only to agriculture. The 11 million SSIs (Small Scale Industries) in the country provide employment to about 25 million people. It accounts for nearly 40% of the gross value of output in the manufacturing sector and contributes to over 34% of total exports from the country.

The sector is currently facing several challenges. It suffers due to inadequacies in capital, technology, and marketing along with increasing competition due to globalization of the Indian economy.
Energy is one of the critical inputs in a large number of small and micro enterprises. Energy use is also closely linked with the environmental pollution. In this context, application of new resource efficient technologies becomes important.

Mainstreaming of technologies is critical for the sustainable development of SMiEs and is closely linked with improving livelihoods of several million workers employed in these industries. The Competence Network for Small and Micro Learning Enterprises or the CoSMiLE programme, focuses on this aspect through increasing adoption of resource efficient technologies in selected end-use sectors. This requires looking at the sectors in a more holistic manner encompassing the concerns of the entrepreneurs as well as the workers. more>>