1. FIRST REPORT Study on Industrial Clusters

2. The Background The Commerce and Industry Minister set goal in the medium-term as:  Double India’s exports of goods and services by 2014 (US $ 500 billion)  India's share in global trade 4% by 2020 With this objective, the Ministry had commissioned a Study on India’s Infrastructural Needs by 2014 and 2020. The study was aimed to assess the current bottlenecks facing the various sectors like ports, airports, road and railways Along with recommendations for Ports, Railway and Road connectivity, the study identified need to have a separate assessment of Industrial clusters to improve last mile connectivity.

5. TOR-Study on Industrial Clusters First aim of the Study would be to identify the existing infrastructural bottlenecks within the clusters and cluster’s connectivity to ports through existing railways and roads The study will also recommend/examine if there is a need to provide/develop new rail/road linkages. The second aim of study is to identify and focus on the emerging 20-25 ports and the second tier airports The Study would also identify the economic viable locations where export hubs can be developed with all possible infrastructure requirements in proximity to existing clogged industrial clusters in the next 5-10 years time.

6. Ahmedabad Ready made Garment Cluster  Effluent Treatment Plants and Sewerage facilities  It is recommended that a centralized common ETP be set up for the textile cluster which is spread through Piplaj to Narol areas of Ahmedabad.  A mega discharge line should be set up for carrying the treated effluents out of the town for discharge. A suggested site is 100 km away from Ahmedabad to Khambhat gulf.  Technological upgradation recommendation  Automatic machines that can cut the blanks (templates) according to numerical control with greatly enhance the prospects of the cluster.  In order to improve the services of ICDs  the clearance and release of Transport Vehicles should be on priority along with extended customs clearance timing and shift based working systems  At various ICDs, consolidation of textile/fabric rolls is an issue.  To avoid loosening of the rolls, inspection should be done once so that rolls may be tightly packed for better stuffing in the containers.  Less Than Load Cargo facility  Services of the consolidators should be available for less than load cargo to be exported from Gujarat Ports. At present the service is available for the Mumbai Ports.  LCL cargo facility for denim should also be encouraged at Gujarat Ports, which at present do not provide smooth, problem free LCL cargo facility and consolidation is being done with preference for JNPT via trucks.  CONCOR and port services at ICD Khodiar/Sabarmati

7. Ahmedabad Pharma cluster There are issues pertaining to the water supply and sewerage conditions in the Industrial area Information and The MSME Pharma exporters in Ahmedabad are slow adopters of ICT being extremely price sensitive due to their size as also due to their lack of requisite infrastructure and budgets. There should be intervention from the State Government in terms of aiding the setting up of ICT Designated areas for Pharma products in the ICDs as well as ports/ vessels due to their sensitive nature Developing a multi-speciality health city at Ahmedabad to boost the Pharma industry of the cluster and to harness the medical tourism potential Pharma specific courses in the ITIs

8. Vadodara Petro chemical cluster Providing funding for the technological upgradation The Vadodara clusters needs accessibility of skilled human resource Strong technology base with greater use of latest in the field of information technology in order to tap its export potential and reach the unexploited markets. Setting up a customer service which would provide services and solutions Setting up international standards manufacturing units and provide economies of scale The Hazardous Waste Management process followed in India is at its nascent stage and needs to be brought at par with world standard India requires advantage on feedstock, so the import cost has to be brought down Construction of a road from Pragpur Chowkdi to Adani Port, Mundra (Gujarat) Kandla special economic zone: Improvement of security system consisting of  Check post with new In and Out gate, fire station near check post  Net work and security solutions Vadodara-Bharuch-Surat Stretch: There is need for a 4 lane new bridge on Narmada connecting the new NH 8 to cater to the continuous six-lane configuration on the Vadodara-Surat stretch. The project is on the anvil, but same needs to be expedited as at present the commuters suffer huge traffic jams, which can take up to 3 hours to clear.

9. Ambur Leather Cluster, TN Integrated Development of Leather Sector Scheme - providing a grant for upgrading technology/modernization and capacity creation during the 12th Plan Period. In order to bridge the skill gap there is need to launch a scheme for enabling the factories to engage unskilled people, provide them on job training and certify them. Additionally a scheme for “training the trainers“needs to be launched. Supply of drinking water by government would be helpful. Common Effluent Treatment Plant Unscheduled power cuts Telecommunications and IT services need to be improved Ambur requires Sole mould making facilities. In order to minimize environmental impact of production there is a need for landfill sites particularly for the footwear industry Requirement of industrial area to increase production, competitiveness and hence exports: Establishment of ITI’s/ITC’s to fulfill the trained manpower needs of the industry. Establishment of primary Health centres in the localities from which the workforce comes. Boarding and lodging facilities of international standard Development of component industry to cater to the footwear industry Requirement of CFS/ICD facility in Ambur. As most of the leather industry would be shifted to Ambur from Chennai due to its polluting nature, Ambur should be provided all infrastructure facilities in order to sustain the leather industry. Chennai –Katpadi-Jolarpet railway route to be strengthened. Loading and unloading facility for goods train for transporting FCL containers to Chennai port To strengthen the Air Connectivity near Ambur area Vellore civil airport can be developed to handle cargo planes and passenger services CONCOR services are focused on Chennai and as a result the Ambur cluster is losing out as it is difficult to coordinate with forwarders and liners. Once CFS /ICD is established, the related service providers will operate from Ambur. CONCOR should introduce a line for Ambur as well. Cuddalore port feasibility should be explored which is 165 km from Ambur as compared to Chennai port ( 220 Kms) and already facing tremendous traffic snarls right from entry point and Tuticorin port which is uneconomically far at 500 Kms.

10. Tirupur Hosiery cluster Effluent problems of the industrial cluster  There is need to introduce cleaner technology to reduce the pollution load.  Reverse Osmosis has been identified as a technologically suitable option for treating textile Industry effluent from large and medium sized units. Respite from Unscheduled power cuts To remain competitive, operating costs have to be reduced and environmental compliance has to be enhanced Need for intervention in order to:  access to market information and emerging market trends  Facilitate Product innovations and diversification  Improve the level of design capability  Improve the level of skills and knowledge related to quality, productivity, financial, marketing, etc.  Bring down operational costs by way of process improvement/productivity improvement and optimal use of out puts  Create awareness about emerging technology, management and market environment  Organise and institutionalise mechanism/systems for sourcing of raw materials, marketing.  Improve the access to avail institutional credit for technology upgradation and expansion of the units.  Disseminate information about various Government EXIM policy schemes/non-Governmental financial support schemes.  Expose the exporters to better work practices and technology in the area of knitting/processing.  Facilitate capacity building for Direct Exports.  Create critical infrastructure such as effluent treatment, uninterrupted power supply, road development and provision for single stop international class manufacturing centre. Exporters have recommended a separate chapter in the monetary policy for the export sector. banks should extend the credit at 7% (fixed) as the prevailing rates in our competing countries are much lower at 5.13%. Include the non-SME garment and knitwear sectors under 2% interest subvention

11. Alleppey Coir, Kerala Awareness campaign for Coir as a commodity by government: Innovations and new product developments: Absence of organised players in domestic market: Supply chain to be streamlined Quality available in the present market is not upto mark