New SAMEEEKSHA website launched to help energy efficiency efforts in MSMEs

TERI launched the new SAMEEEKSHA (Small and Medium Enterprises: Energy Efficiency and Knowledge Sharing) website at its two-day national summit on 'Energy Efficiency in Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs)' on Tuesday, 31st October at the Ashoka Hotel in New Delhi.

Mr Giriraj Singh, Minister of State (Independent Charge), Union ministry of MSMEs, addressed the audience that consisted of various stakeholders from the sector. Other speakers were Raj Pal, Economic Advisor & Joint Secretary, Union ministry of Power, Abhay Bakre, Director General, Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), Milind Deore, Director, BEE, Dr Ajay Mathur, Director General, TERI, and Milind Deore, director, BEE.

The speakers also included Swiss ambassador Dr Andreas Baum.

There are 50 million MSMEs in India that together contribute 45% to India's manufacturing output. At the event, Mr Bakre said around 25% of energy consumption in industries is accounted for by around 200 MSME clusters and deployment of energy efficient technologies can save 25-30% of energy.

To help achieve this, SAMEEEKSHA will serve as a knowledge sharing platform for the sector. Its new website has been launched with a first-of-its-kind MSME Energy Map of India in 99 clusters.

SAMEEEKSHA's genesis was in 2009 when the BEE, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the Union MSME ministry and TERI came together to build a platform to pool knowledge and synergize the efforts of various organisations working towards the development of MSMEs in India. Today, the website aims to help in designing, replicating and implementing large-scale programmes to enable MSMEs to save energy costs without compromising on productivity.