New Delhi, March 8 (IANS): Google India on Wednesday invited entries for "SMB Heroes" awards, a nationwide programme designed to recognise and celebrate small and medium businesses (SMB) that have gone digital to become successful.

The programme in partnership with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) will comprise of three categories -- business innovation through digital, impacting change through digital and woman business leader. 

"Small and medium businesses are the backbone of Indian economy and are powering the next wave of the country's growth. Our new initiative, SMB Heroes celebrates small and medium businesses that have successfully embraced digital and will provide a roadmap to businesses that are yet to embark on this journey," said Shalini Girish, Director, Google Marketing Solutions, in a statement. 

Starting Wednesday, businesses from across the country can submit their nominations on the SMB Heroes website. The last date for entries is April 24. 

Following this, one winner from each category will be shortlisted from five major zones, culminating in a national finale in Delhi later in 2017, the company said.

As per a study by Google and KPMG titled 'Impact of internet and digitisation on SMBs in India', the research found that rising penetration and greater uptake for digital by SMBs could help increase their contribution to India's GDP by 10 percentage points, taking it up to 46-48 per cent by 2020.