Crisil’s milestone in ratings

CHENNAI: Crisil announced its 25,000th rating of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) here. The milestone rating certifi cate for the 25,000th SME rating was presented to Pure Enviro EngineeringPrivate Limited MD K Ramasubranian by Crisil, SME ratings director Sachin Nigam at a media conference. In his address, Nigam said the 25,000th rating achievement demonstrated the impact of the collaborative approach adopted by the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), the National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC), and Crisil. ‘’SMEs play a critical role in the Indian economy and Crisilis proud to be a facilitator in the sector’s promising prospects through SME Ratings’’, he added. Nigam also released the fi ndings of its recent study on rating trends in SMEs in India. The study revealed that SMEs with higher ratings ‘SE 2B’ and above had a larger concentration in South India comprising the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh as compared to any other region in the country. The study, conducted on 8,500 SMEs which have obtained ratings from Crisil in 2011, showed that 49 per cent enterprises obtained high ratings of ‘SE 2B and above’ in south India, as compared to 40 per cent SMEs across India. Nigam said South India offers SMEs favourable operating conditions, proximity to large manufacturers, availability of a strong supply chain and superior infrastructure facilities. This has allowed SMEs in these states to maintain relatively strong business and fi nancial risk profi les. Yogesh Dixit, Head, SME Ratings, Crisil, who was also present, said, ‘the key driver that propels the growth of SMEs in South India is the stronger fi nancial risk profi le as can be seen from robust operating margins and low gearing of these companies.’’ ‘These SMEs have also benefi ted from the strong relations they have with large manufacturers’’, he added.