For the manufacturing sector in Coimbatore, with most of the units in the micro, small and medium-scale sector, cluster programmes have helped bring in the required resources and enabled the industries scale up in terms of volume and quality. After a gap of nearly a decade, the district is all set to get a couple of more clusters - for jewellery and coir units. On the drawing board is a cluster proposal for the valve sector, too.
One of the earliest clusters in the country, implemented for the MSME sector, is for the wet grinder making units in Coimbatore.
President of the COWMA Cluster Services M. Raja said that the cluster, which was implemented in 2006, is relevant even now and the common facilities set up under the project to make stampings and copper wires continue to be used by the industry. “The cluster has benefited with the project as many units were able to grow and be competitive,” he said.
According to a diagnostic study done then about the wet grinder cluster in Coimbatore, the programme could help the units with better technology, create new markets for the products, and enable the industries tap export potential. “We wanted to do product improvement. However, a scheme by the State Government to supply wet grinders free of cost affected the market. Only now is the market picking up. We continue to work on product development,” he said.
“We used to buy stampings for the motor and copper wire from the north Indian sellers then. They determined the price. With financial support extended under the project, we set up modern facilities in Coimbatore to make these products. Even now, we make better quality stampings and copper wires,” he said.
Jayakumar Ramdass, president of Coimbatore Industrial Infrastructure Association (COINDIA), clusters can be vertical or horizontal depending on the profile of the participating units. “It need not be a government initiative. A group of industries can come together to share knowledge, discuss challenges and arrive at solutions. We had three clusters at SIEMA to share knowledge and the government supported it,” he said.
Cluster projects are needed in places that have manufacturing facilities. Not all units can invest in technology or machinery and common facilities can be created for these units through the projects.
The member industries will not have financial burden, such as repayment of loans, while using the facilities and can thus improve quality, he adds.
Cluster programme for a sector should be planned for 10 years. The leadership of the cluster is critical as it involves a lot of time to make the project successful, he says. “Every cluster member of COINDIA has scaled up.” The association has submitted a ₹10 crore proposal to scale up the cluster, he said.
B. Karthigaivasan, General Manager of District Industries Centre, Coimbatore, says cluster proposals are studied in details by officials in the State and Central Governments before these are approved. Diagnostic study and detailed project reports are prepared and only then is the project given a final shape. Further, the aim of a cluster is to make the common facilities sustainable in five years. The participating units should be able to make the facilities profitable so that the infrastructure is upgraded regularly to meet the changing needs. There are several schemes with the Government that provide financial support to clusters even if it does not involve creation of common facilities, he said.
An exporter in the engineering sector said most of the manufacturing activities in the country is in the MSME sector and these are mostly family owned.
The units need support to improve technology and build capacities. Cluster programmes do help the MSMEs in adopting better technology.
The Government should look at bringing in international expertise and knowledge to these clusters by involving international organisations.
