TiE Chennai Trains 695 Budding Entrepreneurs Under Tamil Nadu Government's NEEDS Scheme

CHENNAI, June 21, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Funding Sanctioned to the Tune of Rs. 260 Crores for the Training of First Generation Entrepreneurs Designed by TiE Chennai 

TiE Chennai, in association with Tamil Nadu's Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI), an autonomous agency of the Government of Tamil Nadu, has been training grassroots level entrepreneurs in the SME sector. In the last one year, the members of TiE Chennai have trained and mentored about 695 NEEDS (New Entrepreneur and Enterprise Development Scheme) beneficiaries by designing and delivering a structured curriculum.

The objective of the NEEDS scheme by the Government of Tamil Nadu is to provide educated youth with opportunities for entrepreneurship by providing support in the form of capital and interest subsidy for starting a new venture. First Generation Entrepreneurs with sound business proposals are identified in various districts by District Industries Centre (DICs) and loans recommended to banks. After sanction of banks loans with subsidy, such entrepreneurs are put through a 25-day training program on fundamentals of business, financial skills, and essential skills for sales and marketing, legal compliance and ethics, understanding the go-to market strategy, etc. Post the training program, the participants got access to the funding ranging from Rs. 5 lakhs to Rs. 1 crore, each organized by EDI to start their own venture to be a successful entrepreneur.

TiE Chennai has conducted 15 programs for candidates sponsored by EDI under NEEDs in the last one year all over Tamil Nadu. Around 695 candidates have been trained whose total project investment would be about Rs. 260 crores.

Each batch of NEEDS trainees is organised in three phases. Phase 1 comprised of 10-day training focusing on basics of entrepreneurship, marketing, sales, financials etc. Phase 2 comprised of offsite mentoring for 10 days where candidates were allocated to a particular mentor. Participants got real-time experience by venturing into the market to analyse and report to their respective mentors. Phase 3 comprised of 5 days where short sessions from Government departments like TNEB, NSIC, DIC, DGFT, etc., were conducted.

Punniamurthi, Founder, BUILD & CARE from Hosur is one of the participant of the training programme. Sharing his experience about the programme, he says, "I am a civil engineer aiming to build a manufacturing unit for the production of Cellular Light Weight Concrete blocks (CLC Block) in Hosur area. District administration task force committee approved my project and KRISHNAGIRI DIC gave me the opportunity to attend the training programme organized by Government of Tamil Nadu through EDI, created and presented by TiE Chennai. The training programme, mentor guidance and the market study gave me lot of ideas to take my business in a new dimension. I sincerely thank TiE Chennai and its mentors who guided youngsters like me to take on entrepreneurship with confidence and shared the valuable knowledge of how to do ethical business."

Darel Sunder Singh, another participant, says, "In setting a business, nothing is more helpful than a good mentor to help me learn and grow in a professional setting. The knowledge and wisdom imparted upon me and our batch mates throughout the programme is immensely helpful in running our daily business. I sincerely thank Government of Tamil Nadu, EDI and TiE Chennai in helping to mould me as an entrepreneur through the NEEDS Programme." 

Mr. R. Narayanan, President, TiE Chennai, says, "The focus of the training programme was to help participants with realistic ideas of growing their business. The mentorship was done primarily to cover how the participants business would be challenged in the future business scenario, knowledge of making profits and how to do business ethically. We are happy to be associated with Government of Tamil Nadu, EDI and contribute to the development of entrepreneurs in the State through NEEDS Scheme."

NEEDS scheme is applicable only for first generation entrepreneurs. District Industries Centres (DICs) assist such entrepreneurs to avail of term loans from Banks/ Tamil Nadu Industrial Investment Corporation with capital subsidy at 25% of the project cost (not exceeding Rs. 25 lakhs) and also a 3% interest subsidy. Once the loan is approved by the banks/TIIC, it is mandatory for the NEEDS beneficiaries to attend a 25-day training program organized by EDI to get access to the approved loan. This training program was designed and executed completely by TiE Chennai. 

This initiative of TiE Chennai has paved the way for the chapter to work closely with the State Government in promoting and nurturing entrepreneurship.

About TiE Chennai: 

TiE Chennai is an active chapter with 165 Charter Members and close to 700 Associate Members. The chapter is focused on inspiring, educating and mentoring entrepreneurs in Chennai and Tamil Nadu. TiE Chennai holds regular events on its own, as well as through partnerships, where Charter Members, Entrepreneurs, Business Leaders, SMEs, VCs, Govt. bodies come together and deliver programs on success stories, business opportunities, building enterprises, raising capital, networking, etc.

The foremost and most widely known flagship event that TiE Chennai hosts is TiECON Chennai - the largest professional and networking conference for entrepreneurs/investors in the State. TiE Chennai was selected as the 'Best Chapter' globally in 2014 and continues to be one of the three best performing chapters at the international level in 2015.

For more information, visit: http://www.chennai.tie.org

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Sakthi Prasanna
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