Expressing his views at the webinar organised recently by the Cluster Promotion Forum of Vidarbha Industries Association (VIA), Gajendra Bharati, Joint Director of Industries, Amravati, said that the cluster development activity is evoking good response from Vidarbha entrepreneurs and it is growing in the region. “Various clusters in sectors like garments, dall mill, rice mill, agarbatti making, etc. have been set up under the Cluster Development Scheme,” he said. However he also said that there are some practical difficulties which entrepreneurs are facing while setting up clusters.

Bharati further covered in detail the process of cluster development and said, “State Government has been offering a grant up to Rs 10 crore whereas Central Government has a provision of up to Rs 20 crore for clusters.” The promoter

group needs to infuse 10 per cent to 30 per cent in the cluster, he highlighted.

 

In his presentation on “Highlights on the Cluster Development Programme,” he further spoke about MSI-CDP Cluster Scheme of Govt of Maharashtra and briefed about the objectives of the scheme i.e. to build the capacities of MSME, create / upgrade infrastructural facilities, set up CFC and promotion of green and sustainable manufacturing technology.

 

He also said that assistant from the Government of Maharashtra for DSR limit is Rs 1.5 lakh and contribution from GoM is 90 percent and 10 per cent contribution from the special purpose vehicle (SPV). For DPR the limit is Rs 2.5 lakh, 90 per cent contribution from GoM and 10 per cent contribution from SPV. For Soft Intervention, the limit is Rs 10 lakh and 90 per cent contribution from GoM while 10 per cent should be from the SPV. Aprt from this, CA Yashwant Bhojwani, gave presentation on “Concept, Implementation & Execution of Project under Cluster Development Scheme.” He explained the definition of Cluster, which requires a group of enterprises, identified geographical location, producing similar products and similar types of opportunities or threats.

 

The session was followed by “Success Stories on Clusters in the Region” by Manohar Bhojwan who said there are more than 100 registered dall mill units in the region. Vipul Panchmatia, Director of The Readymade Garment Cluster, Nagpur said the members of the cluster are manufacturing products like ladies salwar suits, shirts, pants, ladies tops, kurta-pyjama, sherwanis, blazers, industrial / school uniforms, etc., made from polyester blended cotton as well as pure cotton. Sandeep Bharne and Pratap Goswami shared the concept of Nagpur Agarbatti Cluster Association, which is a SPV of more than 100 micro raw agarbatti manufacturers belonging to Nagpur region.

 

Earlier, Suresh Rathi, President of VIA, welcomed the guest speakers and expressed his views. Naresh Jakhotia, Treasurer – VIA, moderated the Q&A, and conducted the proceedings. Large number of clusters stakeholders from Vidarbha region as well as Government officials including H K Badar, General Manager, DIC, Bhandara and Gondia; Swapnil Rathod, General Manager, DIC, Chandrapur and Gadchiroli; Uday Puri, General Manager, DIC, Amravati; Nikam, GM, DIC, Akola and Yavatmal and S S Muddamwar, General Manager, DIC, Wardha, Atul Pande -IPP, Aditya Saraf-VP, Dr Suhas Buddhe-VP, Pankaj Bakshi, Nitin Shrivastava, Rinku Jain, Ravindra Lashkare, Sachin Jajodiya, Jethalal Rukhiyana and others took part in the event.