| With a contribution of 40% to the country's
industrial output and 35% to direct exports, the Small-Scale
Industry (SSI) sector has achieved significant milestones for
the industrial development of India. Within the SSI sector, an
important role is played by the numerous clusters that have been
in existence for decades and sometimes even for centuries.
According to a UNIDO survey of Indian SSI clusters undertaken in
1996 (later updated in 1998), there are 350 SSI clusters. Also,
there are approximately 2000 rural and artisan based clusters in
India. It is estimated that these clusters contribute 60% of the
manufactured exports from India. The SSI clusters in India are
estimated to have a significantly high share in employment
generation. Some Indian SSE clusters are so big that they
account for 90 per cent of India's total production output in
selected products. As for example, the knitwear cluster of
Ludhiana. Almost the entire Gems and Jewellery exports are from
the clusters of Surat and Mumbai. Similarly, the clusters of
Chennai, Agra and Kolkata are well known for leather and leather
products.
However, the majority of Indian clusters, especially in the
handicrafts sector, are very small with no more than hundred
workers, so specialised that no other place in the world matches
their skills and the quality of their output. This is the case,
for example, of the Paithani sarees cluster in Maharashtra.
However, onlv a tiny minority of such artisan clusters are
globally competitive.
The formidable challenges created for the SSE sector bv the
liberalisation of the Indian economy, as well as its closer
integration within the global economy, have generated a great
deal of interest within India on novel approaches to SSE
development. As a result, both private and public sector
institutions at the Central as well as the State levels are
increasingly undertaking cluster development initiatives. |
