Voices of India’s MSMEs- Informal enterprises

Nov 15, 2021
2 min

Voices of India’s MSME is a first of its kind effort that deep dives into the financial lives of MSMEs, with focus on the informal, non-agri segment across India. Through this study we will focus on policy environment, market environment, access to finance, digitization, business management and gender balance in entrepreneurship. The study aims to […]

The study aims to aid policy makers, financial institutions, industry bodies and multilateral agencies in more informed decision making.

The Indian MSME eco-system has been a silent core that lacked a high-quality data system that captured MSME pain points, financial and operational health. This data becomes effective if it can be channelized into key feedback loops for necessary industry action and policy interventions.

Commissioned by Omidyar Network India and in partnership with the World Bank, MSC is putting up a pioneering effort to bridge the data gap in the informal enterprise sector in India. This effort, known as the ‘Voices of India’s MSMEs- informal enterprises’, will come up with various reports, technical notes, and interactive data dashboards to provide a credible and usable data source on informal enterprises that all the stakeholders can use to support the sector. One major output of this initiative will be the ‘State of Sector-Informal Enterprises’ report.

A vital component of this study is the Financial Diaries-based research on informal enterprises to develop a nuanced understanding of the financial practices and behaviours of the informal enterprises in India. We also cover the non-financial aspects like needs and desires of the entrepenuers. This nuanced data source, coupled with the data from the Informal Enterprises Survey of the World Bank, will form the base of the data source that we are creating.