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By the time the trophies were handed out on Tuesday evening, it was clear that the ET MSME Awards 2025 had struck a chord. What unfolded in New Delhi was not just a business awards ceremony, but an exclusive gathering of global trade councils, Indian policymakers, and stakeholders from India’s vibrant MSME (micro, small, and medium) ecosystem that reflected on how far the sector has come.The tone was set early in a tightly-curated showcase of India’s best MSMEs across 20 categories, with the welcome address highlighting MSMEs’ expanding role amid geopolitical and technological disruptions.The spotlight session that followed brought policy into sharp focus. Dr. Rajneesh, Additional Secretary and Development Commissioner with the MSME Ministry, outlined the clear shift from survival to MSMEs now scaling, formalising, and integrating seamlessly with global markets.“Under the Credit Guarantee Scheme, what took 22 years to build (₹3.4 lakh crore in guarantees) has scaled to ₹9 lakh crore in just the last three years. With PM Vishwakarma, a five-year target to onboard five million artisans has already seen over three million registrations. With TReDS, bill discounting has grown from about ₹4,300 crore in 2022 to over ₹7 lakh crore now. These are clear signs that when the right systems are put in place, MSMEs respond at scale,” Rajneesh emphasised.That said, the heart of the evening lay in the Awards itself, which had over 10,000 entries this edition. Across categories, from automobile and healthcare to apparel and electronics, the diversity of winners mirrored the breadth of India’s MSME landscape. The recognition of women entrepreneurs across micro, small, and medium segments stood out as a strong signal of changing leadership patterns within the sector. Similarly, innovation-led enterprises being celebrated across size brackets underlined that MSMEs have gone beyond being cost-efficient producers to becoming problem-solvers and technology adopters. Segments recognising fastest-growing enterprises and top exporters added another layer to this narrative, with businesses that have navigated shifting markets, supply chain disruptions, and rising global competition coming out on top.What elevated the ET MSME Awards beyond a domestic industry gathering, however, was its global context. The candid, forward-looking panel discussion ‘Strategic Trade in a Shifting World: How MSMEs Can Diversify and Drive Global Growth’ brought together voices from South Korea, Denmark, and Australia, as also the India Trade Promotion Organisation.“India’s trade with Australia has grown 200%, five times faster than its global trade growth,” said Mukund Narayanamurti, PSM FCA and General Manager of Austrade, South Asia, underlining the pace at which new corridors are opening up. At the same time, Mathias Emil Bengtsson, First Secretary of Trade Policy and Economic Affairs at the Embassy of Denmark in India, noted that “de-risking from China is not decoupling,” making it clear that while India is a serious manufacturing alternative, global supply chains will remain interconnected for the foreseeable future.From an institutional lens, Jae Kyeong Lee, Managing Director of the Korea SMEs & Startups Agency, emphasised that “the focus today is to support the entire business journey from market entry to long-term establishment,” reflecting how trade bodies are evolving beyond basic facilitation. Closer home, Dr. Neeraj Kharwal, Managing Director, India Trade Promotion Organisation, highlighted the shift in approach, noting that “trade shows are only the starting point, what matters is what happens after.”Taken together, the panel concluded that opportunity is expanding, but for MSMEs to truly benefit, they need stronger preparation, sustained engagement, and the right support systems to navigate global markets.Equally significant was the discussion on ease of doing business for SMEs, where panellists engaged in an animated dialogue on reducing friction, be it regulatory complexity, compliance burdens, or access to markets. The emphasis was that sustained growth depends as much on systemic efficiency as on entrepreneurial energy.By the time the final awards (MSME of the Year across manufacturing, services and trade) were presented, the evening had come full circle. What began as a recognition platform had, over the course of a few hours, evolved into a microcosm of the ecosystem itself: diverse, ambitious, and increasingly-interconnected. The closing moments spilled into a networking dinner, where policy experts, entrepreneurs, international delegates, and industry veterans continued to exchange ideas.The ET MSME Awards 2025 reinforced confidence that Indian enterprise is ready to move up the value chain, and that policy and industry are aligning more closely. If the conversations and recognitions of the evening are any indication, the road ahead for India’s MSMEs is about growth in influence. As the lights dimmed on this year’s edition, it became certain that India’s MSME story has finally arrived on the global stage.The ET MSME Awards had IDBI Bank as the Banking and Lending Partner, The New India Assurance Co. Ltd. as the General (Non-Life) Insurance Partner, and CareEdge Ratings as the Evaluation Partner.