from all stakeholders there are ample opportunities in small businesses in india and such opportunities will transform the country in the coming future. for such transformation to happen there needs to be support from all stakeholders, government, banks, corporate, regulators, civic society, etc. technology universities may be set up and the government can tie up with the best in the world to help in research. we need to harness entrepreneurship and look at skill building. a scheme for utilizing ngos to provide training services to tiny micro enterprises could be encouraged. entrepreneurship development is important in view of its visible impact on wealth creation and employment generation. to facilitate and encourage this, skill building has been impressed upon by the prime minister ’ s task force for msmes. enterprise development centres ( edc ) should be set up by the central / state governments with incubators to provide training not just for setting up of new units but also to provide continuing education on different aspects like product design, packaging, technology upgradation, financial management and marketing. entrepreneurship development is the key factor to fight against unemployment, poverty and to prepare ourselves for globalization in order to achieve overall economic progress. initiatives by government of india / reserve bank of india as the level of financial exclusion is very high in the sector, government and reserve bank of india are taking the lead in facilitating access to finance by increasing the outreach of banking facilities to unbanked centers. financial access is critical for msmes growth and development. with an objective of ensuring uniform progress in provision of banking services in all parts of the country, banks have been advised to draw up a roadmap to provide banking services through a banking outlet in every unbanked village having a population of over 2, 000 by march 2012. such banking services need not necessarily be extended through a brick and mortar branch but could be provided through any of the various forms of information and communication technology ( ict ) - based models, including banking correspondents ( bcs ). about 74, 000 such unbanked villages have been identified and allotted to various banks through state level bankers committees ( slbcs ). as at the end of september 2011, as reported by the state level bankers ’ committees of various states / union territories, banking outlets have been opened in 42, 079 villages across the various states in the country. this comprises of 1127 branches, 39, 998 bcs and 954 other modes like rural atm, mobile van etc. further, the reserve bank of india has also advised banks to roll out

k c chakrabarty : microenterprise development – path to creating mncs of tomorrow keynote address by dr k c chakrabarty, deputy governor of the reserve bank of india, at the citi micro entrepreneur awards ceremony, organised by citi bank, mumbai, 5 december 2011. * * * assistance provided by smt l. vadera in preparation of this address is gratefully acknowledged. mr. pramit jhaveri, ceo, citi bank, india, dr isher judge ahluwalia, chairperson, icrier, mr haresh shah, chairman of confederation for the promotion of khadi and village industries, mr anami roy, ex - dgp ( maharashtra ) and chairman vandana foundation, ms radhika haribhakti, chairperson, swadhaar fin access, distinguished guests and winners, ladies and gentlemen. i am extremely happy to be here for the annual citi micro entrepreneur awards ceremony. first of all, i would like to congratulate all the awardees who have come from various parts of the country. these awards recognize and celebrate the superior performance of the recipients. coming as it does from an eminent jury, they fully deserve our wholesome applause and accolades. we hope their performance and achievement will serve as a beacon to others to emulate and perhaps even exceed. i would also like to compliment the organizers of citi micro entrepreneur awards, i. e. citi bank especially mr pramit jhaveri and other members of his team for recognizing and honouring exemplary micro entrepreneurs who have overcome all challenges to successfully build self - sustaining micro enterprises, creating employment and contributing meaningfully to the economic growth of the country. the conferring of these awards also entitles micro entrepreneurs an opportunity to receive training in business development in order to develop and grow in to “ state of the art ” micro enterprises. it is universally acknowledged that great opportunities open up if one is well trained and skilled. entrepreneurs need not necessarily be born, but can be developed through well - conceived and well - directed activities. spearheading entrepreneurship movement throughout the nation is the need of the hour and i compliment citi bank for their commendable initiative in providing support to skill and knowledge building of the micro enterprises. moreover, today ’ s winners will serve as role models who could inspire and mentor future generations of entrepreneurs. importance of micro and small enterprises in a developing nation ’ s economy, it ’ s the small and