KVIC to set up 3 centres in M'rashtra

The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) will set-up 16 more 'Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries' centres in the rural parts, including three centres in Maharashtra, a senior commission official said today.

In Maharashtra, the centres would be set up at Nanded in the Marathwada, Sindhudurg in Konkan and Bhadravati in the Vidarbha, KVIC CEO J S Mishra said. Thus, the number of KVIC centres will rise to 95, he said.

Mishra said, "Traditional industries will be revived under the Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (SFURTI), under which more than 80,000 artisans will benefit directly."

KVIC will provide all the raw materials, kits, processing plants and also will help to market their finished products, Mishra said and added that a sum of Rs 85 lakh will be spent initially on these centres.

The Nanded centre will specialise in Khadi products like clothes and garments, while pottery units will be set-up in Vidarbha region. Sindhudurg, famous for the 'hapus' mangoes, will have the food processing units.

As fruits like mangoes, jackfruits, cashew nuts grow abundantly in the region, nearly 15,000 craftsmen and artisans from these villages will earn their livelihood.

The KVIC will work as a nodal agency, while local artisans and craftsmen will be selected at the district and village level by the district collector.