Government completes 288 cluster projects since 2014

Government of India’s cluster development program is a promising tool to enhance the global competitiveness of Indian small scale units in handicrafts, food processing, textile, leather, cosmetics, furniture and other products. Women self help groups, artisans, farmer producer organizations can form special purpose vehicle (SPV) and apply for financial assistance to set up common facility centers or infrastructure in their cluster.

Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are the backbone of Indian economy as they contribute more than 30% to our GDP, 45% to exports and around 40% to manufacturing. According to official data, the country is home to more than 65 million MSMEs, and many of these units function in clusters across various geographic regions. There is brass cluster in Moradabad, leather cluster in Kanpur, cashew cluster in Sindhudurg, turmeric cluster in Sangli, pharmaceutical cluster in Vijayawada and so on.

Government of India operates MSE Cluster Development Program (CDP) to support micro and small units upgrade infrastructure facilities in their clusters, set up common facility centres in their clusters and adopt green or sustainable manufacturing technology in their clusters.

Under the CDP program, government has approved 510 cluster development projects across the country with a total expenditure of Rs. 1,074 crore since 2014.?Out of these 510 projects, 288 are completed, while the remaining 222 are ongoing projects. Under this program, government provides financial assistance common facility centers such as facilities for quality testing, training, raw material storage and treatment of industrial waste, to name a few.

The program also includes government grant of upto 60% of the cost for setting up infrastructure projects such as establishing new industrial estate or flatted factory complex.

A minimum of 20 micro and small enterprises or start-ups or farmer producer organizations can form a ?special purpose vehicle (SPV) and apply for common facility centers (CFC) with project value of more than Rs. 10 crore. Similarly, for applying for CFC projects less than Rs. 10 crore, the applying SPV should have at least 10 small and micro units.

Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh are major beneficiaries of Government of India’s cluster development program as each of these states has at least 25 projects either ongoing or completed under this program.

Micro and small enterprises from other states can also avail incentives under this scheme as the government has increased allocation for this program in the current financial year. Government of India has allocated Rs. 262 crore for the current financial year (2022-23) for implementing cluster development projects, which is far higher than Rs. 156 crore allocated last year.

#msme #business #gst #smallbusiness #india #startup #sme #businessowner #startups #entrepreneur #makeinindia #startupbusiness #finance #tax #covid #startupindia #iso #fssai #msmeindia #entrepreneurship #registration #companyregistration #entrepreneurs #gstregistration #b #incometax #accounting #gstupdates #company #marketing #trademark #chennai #narendramodi #digitalindia #vocalforlocal #msmeregistration #bank #loan #itr #trending #indiangovernment #quality #growth #license #gujarat #knowledge #subsidy #government #ahmedabad #incometaxreturn #govt #product #enterprenuers #fintech #lifestyle #wastemanagement #madeinindia