In a bid to offer a competitive stance to the country's coir products in the global market, it is essential to modernize the traditional coir sector of the country, underlined the Union Minister of State for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME), Dinsha J Patel.
He was speaking during the inaugural function of common facility centre, set up under the Mangad Coir Cluster in Kollam. Due to the cluster format, Khadi and Village industries as well as the coir sector of the country are witnessing sustainable development, he added.
The Central Government has sanctioned Rs 7.6 million to offer forward and backward linkages in the Mangad cluster by setting up Common Facility Centre, conducting market development activities and capacity building.
Moreover, to undertake various programs under the project, a special purpose vehicle (SPV), 'Mangad Coir Cluster Development Society' has also been created. Nearly 75,000 coir artisans, including 90 percent women living below the poverty line, are involved in coir and allied products manufacturing, under the Mangad Coir Cluster.
These 75,000 coir artisans cover 50 out of 122 primary coir co-operative societies in 24 Panchayats in Kollam district. The Mangad Coir Cluster works under Directorate of Coir Development of the state government. Technical support, required to execute cluster activities, has been provided by the Entrepreneur Development Institute of India, based in Ahmedabad, while the Coir Board acts as a nodal agency.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk - India