Guwahati, Aug. 30: The North Eastern Development Finance Corporation (NEDFi) plans to upgrade its craft incubation centre at Khetri by including more natural fibre-based products with an eye on promoting handicrafts and providing better market linkage to artisans.
The corporation, which provides financial assistance to micro, small, medium and large enterprises for setting up infrastructure and agri-allied projects in the Northeast, has a research and development-cum-incubation centre at Khetri, about 45km from here, in Kamrup (metro) district.
"We have carried out a North Eastern Council-sponsored water hyacinth project since 2010-11 involving experts from Thailand and design inputs from Ahmedabad-based National Institute of Design. Now we want to upgrade the incubation centre with the best of technology, tools and expertise besides bringing in all kinds of natural fibre products with an eye on linking more artisans to the market," NEDFi chairman and managing director B.P. Muktieh told The Telegraph.
The Rs 1.61-crore water hyacinth project has enabled around 3,500 artisans to take up the craft as a source of sustainable livelihood. Under the brand Aqua Weaves, NEDFi has already created a good market for water hyacinth products.
NEDFi has taken up activities to train people on coconut shell craft from this year by involving technology from south India. It has also sought processing technology support from a Chennai-based firm for natural dyes that are associated with handloom products.
"The research and development centre at Khetri is now directly run under our society and we have undertaken various activities under our corporate social responsibility (CSR). Our focus will be on strengthening online and offline channels of marketing products made by our artisans so that they not only get their returns on time but stay motivated to their craft," Muktieh said.
The financial institution had recently carried out an online marketing survey on handicrafts for the Assam government.
"We will carry out a similar study for the Northeast. The idea will be to use the centre at Khetri to aggregate and upgrade low-cost, high-value products which will bring higher returns to our artisans. We will generate funds by engaging more players and institutions," he said.
In a bid to encourage start-up ventures in the region, NEDFi has collaborated with the DoNER ministry to set up a dedicated venture capital fund, worth Rs 100 crore, for the northeastern region. "We have so far garnered around Rs 75 crore. Hopefully, we should be activating the fund from October this year," Muktieh said.
Besides financing, the corporation offers consultancy and advisory services to the state governments, private sectors and other agencies.
