Dun & Bradstreet India (D&B India) reinforces its commitment towards servicing small and medium enterprises through the launch of its Emerging SMEs: Hyderabad 2008, which is the fifth publication in this cluster-based series - the first four being the successful launches of the publications focusing on Mumbai, Pune, Chennai and NCR. In this geographical-area based series, our future edition would cover yet another important region – Kolkata.

India has emerged as one of the fast growing economies in the world, having recorded an annual growth of over 8% during the last four years. The Government recognises that in order to sustain its current economic progress, broad based robust growth in industrial and services sector is necessary, which needs to be supported by the SME segment. SMEs play a signifi cant role in the development of the economy and also ensure regional balance. The sector accounts for more than 80% of the industrial units in India; contributes approximately 40% of the domestic industrial production and about 45% of India’s industrial employment.

India has emerged as one of the fast growing economies in the world, having recorded an annual growth of over 8% during the last four years. The Government recognises that in order to sustain its current economic progress, broad based robust growth in industrial and services sector is necessary, which needs to be supported by the SME segment. SMEs play a significant role in the development of the economy and also ensure regional balance. The sector accounts for more than 80% of the industrial units in India; contributes approximately 40% of the domestic industrial production and about 45% of India’s industrial employment.

The SME segment has drawn the attention of several government institutions, corporate bodies and banks, and is perceived as an agent of economic transformation and growth. However, there is a dearth of structured and reliable information on India’s SME sector. A sincere attempt to fulfill this lacuna was the fundamental rationale behind the cluster-based publication. This reference document is also intended to provide a platform to enhance the visibility of these important constituents of the Indian growth story.

The current publication, Emerging SMEs: Hyderabad 2008 attempts to refl ect the advantages in terms of knowledge, skills, low costs, superior quality and demand, that are associated with the engineering, IT & ITeS-BPO and pharmaceutical sectors in India. The Indian engineering industry witnessed a growth of 33% in FY07. The Indian pharmaceutical industry, whose products are exported to more than 200 countries, is estimated to be around US$ 17 bn. In FY07, the IT & ITeS-BPO industry witnessed a strong growth in export revenue to reach US$ 31.3 bn, and revenue of the industry as whole was US$ 47.8 bn. The contribution of the SMEs to these three sectors, especially by adopting the cluster model, is well recognised.

The SME publication preserves the D&B lineage of providing information and knowledge that facilitate informed business decisions. D&B has drawn on its time-tested expertise in business information to the benefi t of the small and medium companies, as this publication amply reflects.

I hope you will enjoy reading Emerging SMEs: Hyderabad 2008 and look forward to receiving your suggestions.

Dr Manoj Vaish
President & CEO - India
Dun & Bradstreet