Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Kalraj Mishra said here on Sunday that the National Coir Policy and ‘Vision 2025’ for the coir sector were likely to be announced within a month.
He was inaugurating a function organised at the Coir Board complex at Kalavoor to launch new coir machinery and transfer technologies to clusters and industrial groups.
Mr. Mishra said the policy was being evolved along the lines of the National Fibre Policy that had been announced by the government. The draft policy prepared by the Coir Board was under the consideration of the Ministry. The policy was expected to discuss the target on utilisation of coconut husk, welfare of coir workers, finding new uses of coir and coir products, and R&D activities aimed at modernisation of the industry.
The policy will also include creation of one million additional employment opportunities over a period of 10 years, he added.
Pointing out that the coir industry faced several problems, including fibre scarcity, Mr. Mishra wondered why the coir industry had failed to utilise the abundance of coconut husks available in the State and was instead dependent on Tamil Nadu for coir fibre. According to him, a system for collection of husks for utilisation by the coir sector was not in place. The utilisation stood at a low 20 per cent.
Urging the State government and the industry to enhance utilisation, Mr. Mishra pointed out that Union government had fixed a target of 60 per cent for utilising husks throughout the coconut-producing States. The schemes evolved for implementation during the 12 Plan period were aimed at achieving the target.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Coir Board and the Federation of Indian Coir Exporters (FICEA) for the development of a fully-mechanised spinning machine was exchanged during the function.
K.C. Venugopal, MP, presided over the function. Coir Board chairman S.N. Tripathi, FICEA chairman John Chacko, and Mannancherry grama panchayat president P.A. Jumailath also spoke.
