Hyderabad, Aug 17 (IANS): Facebook India on Monday said it is organising a Small Business Boost (SBB) programme designed to arm Indian businesses with the knowledge, skills and technology required to stay innovative and connect with the customers both at home and abroad.

Terming India a priority market, the company said the programme will help provide small businesses with the technology and resources required to connect with new customers and generate sales in a measurable way.

In the events, the attendees will engage with a broad selection of small business peers and Facebook experts to learn and share their experiences of growing an online business in today's global economy.

Telangana Information Technology Minister K.T. Rama Rao will co-host and kick-off the first event here.

"In India there are more than 36 million small and medium-sized enterprises, which provide employment to 80 million people and form the backbone of the Indian economy. As people spend more time plugged into their smartphones and on the Internet, these small businesses have a unique opportunity to capture new audiences, increase sales and grow by using social media," the minister said in a statement.

The company said there are 1.49 billion people on Facebook, of which India accounts for 125 million users.

"That's a compelling audience for a small business looking to find new customers, deepen relations with existing customers and boost sales. More than 1.5 million small businesses in India are already using Facebook pages to take advantage of this community to grow their customer reach", Ritesh Mehta, head of economic growth initiatives for Facebook India said in a statement.

Citing a Deloitte report, the company claimed it contributes $4 billion and 335,000 jobs to the Indian economy through its marketing, platform and connectivity efforts.