The State Government is forming special cluster cells for women's industrial parks across the State exclusively to provide expert assistance to women entrepreneurs.
An expert consultant group is being constituted by the Tamil Nadu Small Industries Development Corporation (TANSIDCO), which will provide assistance to entrepreneurs individually.
“A pilot project is already underway at Thirumullaivoyal Women's industrial estate at Chennai and will soon be extended to the Women's industrial estate at Kappalur in Madurai,” TANSIDCO Chairman and Managing Director D. Rajendran told The Hindu in Madurai. He was in the city to take part in a felicitation function to honour A.K.B. Nawas Babu, a national award recipient.
If the pilot project was found to be successful, it would be replicated across the State on a larger scale. The cluster cells would impart assistance on all aspects of running an enterprise, ranging from how to prepare detailed project reports, obtain credit, technical assistance, skill training and in human resources, he said.
New policy
He said that a new policy decision had been taken by TANSIDCO to utilise common purpose land in existing industrial estates for the units at a nominal rent if they were ready to construct the buildings for running a common facility centre.
Such a centre would be funded by Central Government under the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) Cluster Development Programme for projects costing up to Rs.10 crore. The existing units have to contribute only 20 per cent under this scheme.
This programme could be used for helping units in providing backward and forward linkages as well as in product processing, he said.The Kappalur Industrial Estate could make use of this programme to build a skill upgradation centre' using the land on a nominal lease, said Mr. Rajendran.
