CII-Avantha Centre to start new clusters in northern region

The CII-AVANTHA Centre for Competitiveness for SMEs, a centre of excellence of the Confederation of Indian Industry and the Delhi-based AVANTHA group, intends to start four new clusters in northern India - at Jaipur, Jalandhar, Baddi and Mandi Gobindgarh - in the current fiscal.

The aim will be to enhance the competitiveness of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) based in the northern region, through interventions in areas such as cost management, productivity, energy efficiency and total employee involvement.

According to officials, the centre's counsellors will survey these industries and ascertain the various trades in which these clusters would run. The trades could range from light engineering, electrical, mechanical and auto components to textiles, rubber or others. These would be multi-product clusters. These clusters will guide and help MSMEs to focus on adoption of automation and latest technologies. It would also bring down their factor costs while enhancing productivity and quality.

Speaking to Business Standard, R Narayanan, who heads the CII-AVANTHA Centre for Competitiveness, said, "Small and medium enterprises have the potential to emerge as big-time growth drivers of the economy and also as a dynamic engine of employment generation." The aim of starting the four new clusters was to translate this potential into reality, he added.

The centre, which came into being in 2004, provides a range of services for MSMEs across sectors such as heavy engineering, automobiles, chemicals, and hand-tools. "We provide consulting services and handhold MSMEs to enable them to meet challenges related to globalisation. A group of 8-12 SMEs work closely, share knowledge and strive to improve on their business indicators and enhance their productivity, innovativeness and competitiveness," Narayanan said.

Since inception, the centre has formed 57 clusters, impacting over 1,000 SMEs so far in the northern region, he explained. For example, an advanced cluster programme was launched in Ludhiana in July 2013, taking the total number of the centre's clusters in Punjab to 16. The six companies in this cluster include Eurodec Paints (a unit of Haveli Ram Bansi Lal), Majestic Auto Ltd, Shakunt Enterprises, Mrs Bectors Food Specialities P Ltd, Ralson India Ltd and Ajay Industries Ltd, (Jalandhar).

Asked about the benefits the MSMEs realised after undergoing the cluster programme, he added, "Our Jalandhar cluster has realised a saving of more than Rs one crore in a record time of only three months. From December 2012 to February 2013, the six companies in the cluster realised total savings of Rs 70.58 lakh through cash recovery from the implementation of Total Quality Management tools like 1S, 3M and Kaizen. Apart from this, the cluster realised a total of 5,715 square feet of space recovery. Savings through cash recovery as well as space savings together will amount to more than Rs 1 crore."

"Apart from tangible benefits, also noticeable was the upsurge in employee involvement and a perceptible change in the work culture," he added.

Overall, the centre has formed 238 clusters across India and assisted 2,428 SMEs in becoming competitive. The 37 ongoing clusters in different parts of the country are going to benefit about 240 companies (including strategic partners). Of these, 29 clusters are in the northern region - two each in Punjab and Uttarakhand, and the rest in Delhi NCR. According to data, the serviced companies reported tangible savings of Rs 65 crore. Savings of Rs 4.5 crore were reported by a single company through an energy audit.