Centre gifts five industry clusters

Ranchi, July 20: The Centre has selected five locations in the state to set up industrial clusters under its ambitious cluster development scheme.

The places shortlisted by the Union ministry of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) are Bokaro for engineering and fabrication, Jamshedpur for auto components, Ramgarh for mini cement plants, Jainagarh and Bishungarh (in Hazaribagh district) for rural brassware products and Chirkunda for refractory products.

While the soft training component for auto cluster has been completed, other centres are under diagnostic study by the Union ministry. This was revealed today at a maiden workshop on “possibilities of cluster development across Jharkhand,” which was attended by Vinod Kumar, the deputy director of MSME who looks after micro and small enterprises for the ambitious Cluster Development Programme (CDP). The programme was also attended by state industries secretary N.N. Sinha and director (industries) Aradhana Patnaik while adviser to the governor Sunila Basant inaugurated it.

Speaking on the occasion, Vinod said that the state needed to do a lot to develop such clusters. “There is a total of 438 such clusters across the country while only five have been earmarked for Jharkhand. But the state has great potential for growth. Co-ordinated effort from the state and the Union government is required for more such ventures,” Vinod said.

Under the MSE scheme of things, there is provision of soft intervention where in the Centre gives funds to make cluster stakeholders realise the importance of common cluster-based approach and make them globally competitive besides providing training and arranging exposure trips.

Under hard interventions, the provisions include setting up of a common facility centre, mini tool rooms, design centres, testing facilities, training centre, R&D centres, common raw material bank and sales depots.

The Union ministry aims to spend Rs 10 lakh under the soft intervention schemes while Rs 50 lakh to Rs 260 lakh has been earmarked under the hard intervention schemes.

To avail of the benefits, a special purpose vehicle is required to be formed with a minimum strength of 20 members. The same can be constituted in the form of a registered or co-operative society, a trust or even a company, the ministry people said.

However, the participating industrialists at the workshop rued about problems in availing basic infrastructure such as uninterrupted electric supply and other sops provided by the state.

As far as development in Adityapur Auto Cluster Limited — a special purpose vehicle for the project — is concerned, the scheme has been running smoothly with 12 acres having been earmarked for it. There is possibility of extending it to 17 acres.

The Rs 65crore project, to be funded by the Centre, state and participating industries as well, is expected to be inaugurated by August.