BIA INSTALLS NEW PRESIDENT, PIVOTS TOWARD AI AND EXPORTS AS MSME SECTOR SEEKS GLOBAL FOOTING

Industry body charts ambitious reform agenda under Dr. Rajesh Doshi; calls for MSMEs to move beyond survival mode and compete on the global stage PHOTO 1: Dr. Rajesh Doshi (left), Managing Director, Diagold Creation Pvt. Ltd., being installed as the 62nd President of the Bombay Industries Association (BIA) by outgoing President Hitesh Shah at Hotel Sahara Star, Mumbai. MUMBAI, May 2026: In a year when India's small and medium enterprise sector faces simultaneous headwinds from global supply chain realignments, tightening credit conditions, and the disruptive pressure of artificial intelligence, the Bombay Industries Association has chosen to respond not with caution but with ambition. The 78-year-old Mumbai-based industry body, established in 1948, formally installed Dr. Rajesh Doshi as its 62nd President at a ceremony held at Hotel Sahara Star, Mumbai, and followed it up with a substantive policy and strategy address at its monthly meeting on May 6, 2026, at The Club, D.N. Nagar, Andheri (West). Taken together, the two events signal a conscious institutional repositioning - from a traditional industry association to what its new leadership describes as a 'growth engine' for entrepreneurs. A LEADERSHIP TRANSITION WITH INTENT Dr. Doshi, Managing Director of Diagold Creation Pvt. Ltd., assumed charge from outgoing President Hitesh Shah in a ceremony attended by industrialists, senior government officials, and diplomatic representatives. His election to the presidency comes at a moment when India's MSME ecosystem - 7.5 crore enterprises strong, generating 33 crore jobs, contributing 31% to GDP, 35% to manufacturing output, and 48% to total exports - is being asked to punch well above its traditional weight. His stated agenda is built around three imperatives: embracing artificial intelligence and digital technologies, integrating into global supply chains, and capturing export markets that India's geopolitical positioning is increasingly making accessible. He has packaged this under the theme - Arise, Awake, Achieve - a formulation that is deliberately aspirational, reflecting a leadership philosophy that views mindset as the first barrier to scale. ''BIA must not simply be a networking platform. It must become a growth engine for entrepreneurs.'' Industry associations across India have long been criticised for functioning as social clubs rather than policy vehicles. BIA's new president appears determined to alter that perception. THE MSME REALITY: NUMBERS THAT DEMAND POLICY SERIOUSNESS The installation ceremony's most analytically substantive address came from Anish Damania, Senior Executive at JM Financial and the event's chief guest, who offered a data-anchored assessment of the MSME sector's structural position in the Indian economy. His figures were stark: 7.5 crore MSMEs collectively account for nearly a third of India's GDP, 35% of its manufacturing output, and nearly half of all exports. Yet financing gaps, technology deficits, and governance challenges prevent most of these enterprises from crossing the critical threshold from micro to small, or small to medium. ''The nation runs on you guys.'' He argued that financial discipline and technology adoption are no longer optional competitive advantages but baseline requirements for MSME survival in an increasingly integrated global economy. The China-plus-one thesis - which holds that global manufacturers seeking to diversify supply chains away from China represent a historic opportunity for Indian industry - featured centrally in his remarks. PHOTO 2: BIA leadership, industry speakers, and members during the Installation Ceremony at Hotel Sahara Star, Mumbai. Chief guest Anish Damania (JM Financial) and Fineotex Chemical MD Surendrakumar Tibrewala addressed members on MSME growth, AI adoption, and export strategy. A CASE STUDY IN SCALING: THE FINEOTEX STORY The installation ceremony also featured a grounded address by Surendrakumar Tibrewala, Managing Director of Fineotex Chemical Ltd., whose company's growth trajectory from a small chemicals manufacturer to a publicly listed enterprise with global clients has become a reference point in Mumbai's SME circles. Speaking at Hotel Sahara Star, Tibrewala argued that the central challenge for growth-oriented MSMEs is not capital or market access - it is the founder's reluctance to delegate. ''Never let the words small, micro, or medium live in your ambition.'' His emphasis on Research and Development as a sustained competitive moat resonated strongly. Indian MSMEs that invest consistently in R&D build the differentiation that protects margins when commodity pricing erodes. INSTITUTIONAL REFORMS AND STRATEGIC INITIATIVES The two events collectively announced several organisational shifts that will define BIA's agenda through the current year: Entrepreneur Magazine Revival: The unveiling of the cover of BIA's revived magazine, Entrepreneur - relaunched as a platform for MSME case studies, policy analysis, and industry intelligence - reflects BIA's intent to build a knowledge-sharing infrastructure. DEFCON 2026: A proposed initiative creating a dedicated interface between BIA's MSME membership and India's rapidly expanding defence and aerospace manufacturing ecosystem, helping members navigate opportunities under the Atmanirbhar Bharat framework. Digital Transformation and AI Roadmap: Structured programmes on AI tools, digital marketing, e-commerce integration, and data-driven decision making - targeting member enterprises that lack internal technology resources. MoU Signing and Partnerships: BIA formalised several memoranda of understanding with institutional partners, expanding member access to financial services, technology platforms, and export facilitation networks. Member Expansion: BIA announced outreach to manufacturing clusters in Bhiwandi, Navi Mumbai, and Thane, along with a digital membership management system and online event infrastructure. CONCLUSION The Bombay Industries Association's new leadership has set out a programme that is unusually specific and strategically coherent by the standards of Indian industry association discourse. Whether BIA can execute against this agenda will depend on staff capacity, member engagement, sustained investment in programming, and effective policy dialogue with government. India's MSME sector is at an inflection point - large enough to matter macroeconomically, fragmented enough to remain vulnerable, and ambitious enough to believe that the China-plus-one moment is real. Dr. Doshi's charge to his membership - to never allow the words 'small, micro, or medium' to constrain their ambition - captures the spirit of the moment. The harder work of making that aspiration operational begins now. (Disclaimer: The above content is a press release and PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same.).

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