An Empirical Study of Growth and Inclusiveness of Entrepreneurship in India

The importance of entrepreneurship development has been accepted universally. Entrepreneurs offer solutions to varied economic and social challenges such as unemployment, slower growth rates, regional imbalances, poverty, inequality in income distribution, technological backwardness and lack of financial inclusion. Entrepreneurship development is a common key to attain economic, social and psychological well being of the people and the nation. It is definitely not just a sheer coincidence that the countries with higher incidence of entrepreneurship are also the ones with higher national income and the ones creating series of innovations. All the policy makers of different nations are busy designing measures that will systematically develop entrepreneurial aspirations and activities through promoting appropriate institutional framework. Educational institutions, research centers, incubations, financial institutions, tax authorities and many technical institutions are working together to promote entrepreneurship. Leading management institutions are running special programs to develop and nurture entrepreneurship.

Indian policy makers have also taken active steps to enhance entrepreneurship since 1950s. The present study aims at analyzing the impact of MSMED Act 2006, on the progress made by India in the field of entrepreneurship development. The progress is measured in quantitative terms such as growth of number of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), total number of jobs created by MSME and the share of output of MSME in aggregate industrial output. The extent of 'inclusiveness of entrepreneurship' a concept used in Global Entrepreneurship Monitoring (GEM) report is measured on the basis of gender, caste and type of industry. The study also measures India's progress in the field of entrepreneurship as notified in Doing Business Report 2012, a report published annually by the World Bank. Some policy measures are suggested to boost the entrepreneurial spirit in modern India.