Eco-Friendly Coir Sector Will get Rs 200-cr Modernisation Funds
Thursday, August 16, 2007
The Centre is readying a Rs 150-Rs 200-crore package for the eco-friendly coir industry. The idea is to help coir makers capture a larger slice of the global market. India is a dominant player is the global market, having a 90% share followed by Sri Lanka.
Coir exports grew by 24% to top Rs 600 crore in 2006-07. For this fiscal, the Centre has drawn up a Rs 25 crore modernisation plan. This could be followed with a separate booster dose of Rs 150-Rs 200 crore, said a senior official.
The technology modernisation plan will be implemented through public private partnership. It will cover every facet of technology modernisation. Under the scheme, spinners at the bottom of the pyramid will get a cash subsidy to upgrade their machines.
For the Eleventh Plan, the government has set a quantitative target of 60% for husk use through improved technology. Entrepreneurs and the government will join hands to improved motorised ratts ? for making yarn from coir husk ? as well.
A separate line of credit will be offered to the coir industry through a tie up of the Coir Board with financial institutions. ?The aim is to target both spinners and household units, both high end and low end, domestic and export market,? a senior government official said. On the export front, the thrust would be on better marketing of products overseas.
Among coir products door mats, coir mats and carpets top the sales chart. The government also plans to have a separate scheme to promote geo-textiles that have been tested in the Coir Laboratory at Alappuzha, Kerala. Geo-textiles have been found to be an effective material to prevent soil erosion and minor landscapes in wet areas. The Coir Board has also tied up with IIT-Delhi to develop natural dyes for coir products.
The modernisation package for the coir industry is being prepared by the ministry of micro, small and medium enterprises and agro-rural industries.
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