INDIAN STATE : KERALA

Major Industries

Handloom Industry

The handloom industry stands second to the coir industry in providing employment among the traditional industries of the state This sector in Kerala is concentrated in Thiruvananthapuram and Kannur districts and in some parts of Kozhikode, Palakkad, Thrissur, Ernakulam, Kollam and Kasaragod districts and employs about 1.75 lakh people in Kerala. The co-operative sector (consists of factory type and cottage type societies.) dominates this industry with 94 per cent of looms. six per cent of the remaining handloom units is owned by Industrial entrepreneurs .

Of the total number of 50200 looms in the State, the share of Kannur District is around 11000. There are 73-registered co-operative weavers' societies and 79 private handloom units in Kannur and most part of these units are engaged in the production of export variety items. The handloom sector of the State is mainly in the production of various varieties such as dhotis, furnishing material, grey saree and lungi. Estimates show that of the total production the production of these items comes to 67%. There has been a significant increase in the overall production of cloth in Kerala of 1.82 million meters from 60.48 million meters in 2003-04 to 62.30 million meters in 2004-05. Of the total production, 96.15 % is contributed by the co-operative sector and the balance of 3.85% is by the units in the entrepreneurial sector.

Major initiatives in handloom industry

• A new strategy for development of handloom industry has been formulated by involving Self Help Groups of weavers and submitted three projects, THANIMA at a cost of Rs.14.64 crores for Thiruvananthapuram District, KRITHIKA at a cost of Rs.11.08 crores for Kannur district and PRATHIBHA at a cost of Rs.12.68 crores for Ernakulam and Palakkad districts.
• Another scheme is Deen Dayal Hathkargha Protsahan Yojana (DDHPY), under this scheme cluster development approach was taken as a component for the development of handloom industry. The scheme covers both co-operative and non-co-operative weavers under fold. Out of the 385 project proposals sent to Government of India, 295 were sanctioned. Also, Government of India released an amount of Rs.2644.98 lakhs so far. This along with the state share, amounting to Rs.5660.30 lakhs, has been released to the beneficiary societies as on 30-9-2005.
• The National Institute of Fashion Technology, New Delhi had identified Kozhikode Handloom Cluster for a project on Development of Craft/Textile cluster to be implemented as a special project under Swarna Jayanthi Gram Swarozgar Yojana. The Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India with 75% Central share and 25% State share, proposes the project.
• Government of India has also approved sanction for the establishment of Handloom Project Development Centre (HPDC) at Balaramapuram and an amount of Rs 39.38 lakh is released for setting up of weaving equipment, dyeing equipment, printing equipment, design development equipment etc.
• Procurement and marketing of handloom fabrics in the state are being undertaken by two state level organizations, namely,
  • Kerala State Handloom Weavers Co-operative Society (Hantex) is the apex organization of handloom co-operatives. Main activities of Hantex include distribution of required inputs to member societies and procurement and processing of goods produced by the member societies.
  • The Kerala State Handloom Development Corporation (Hanveev) that was set up in 1968 is another agency to accelerate the development of handloom Industry in the state. During the year 2004-05, the Corporation procured yarn worth Rs.424.16 lakhs compared to Rs.506.51 lakhs in the previous year.
    

Power loom Industry

In Kerala, the total number of power looms is 3800, out of which 1381 are in the co-operative sector. Mostly the looms are in Kannur, Thrissur and Palakkad districts. In Kerala the number of power loom co-operative societies at the end of March 2005 was 33 and the number of members 6600, out of which 1223 are women. Production of cloth increased from 60 lakh meters in 2003-04 to 62.15 lakh meters during 2004-05 and its value increased from Rs.735 lakhs to Rs.761.34 lakhs.

Coir Industry

Coir Industry has been a long-established industry in Kerala.It generates employment to more than 3.75 lakh workers, out of which 76 per cent are women. As part of the government effort to facilitate existing units in the co-operative sector and to open such units in the private sector, Coir department is offering 50 per cent subsidy on their capital investments limited to Rs. 10 lakhs per unit.

In coir sector the total expenditure made was of Rs. 30.52 crores for various plan schemes. Among the items of export handloom mat, tufted mat, coir pith, power loom mat, rubberised coir and coir fibre have showed an increase. During the year 2004-05 the export of coir and coir products from India was 122926.78 tones valued at Rs. 47340.27 lakhs. USA is the largest importer of coir products from India, followed by Germany, UK, France, Netherlands and Italy.

In Kerala COIRFED is the Apex Federation of Primary Co-operative Societies, which are engaged in the manufacture of coir fibre, coir yarn and coir products. The Coirfed markets their entire output, while the coir products are marketed by concerned societies themselves. The turnover of Coirfed during 2004-05 was Rs. 14.50 crores.

Major initiatives taken in coir industry

• A scheme called Common Facility Service Centre is being implemented to help small-scale producers in coir sector. During 2004-05, an amount Rs. 23.36 lakhs was expended for this scheme and for various welfare schemes of coir workers a sum of Rs 486 lakhs was spent. Also for Geo-textiles Development Programme an amount of Rs.50 lakhs was spent.
• Steps have been taken to initiate actions for setting up a National Coir Research and Management Institute in order to strengthen the R & D activities in the coir sector with a view to enable the coir industry to produce more value added and new design products, to sustain an upper hand in the domestic and international markets.

Coir Parks

1. Alapuzha

(i) Cherthala Taluk - Alapuzha District
Extent - 23.40 acres
Area allotted - 21.15 acres to 14 entrepreneurs
Investment expected - Rs. 95 million
by entrepreneurs

(ii) Cherthala Taluk - Alappuzha District
Extent - 17.06 acres
Area allotted - 17.06 acres
Alottee - 4 govt. undertakings
Investment expected - Rs. 150 million by entrepreneurs

2. High Tech Coir Park At Perumon - Kollam

This High Tech Coir Park is to be implemented by the Centre for Development of Coir Technology (DOCT) Trivandrum with the support of State, central and national financing institutions at an estimated cost of Rs. 170.8 million .It will offer a meeting ground for scientists, technologists and entrepreneurs with universities, research establishments, manufacturing units and is expected to open up possibilities to develop a wide range of eco-friendly products based on coconut fibre.

Khadi and Village Industries

Khadi and village industries board activities are carried out through co-operative societies, registered institutions and departmental units by availing financial assistance from the state government, khadi commission and nationalized banks.

During 2004-05, under Rural Employment Generation Programme of Government of India, khadi board has disbursed an amount of Rs. 437.23 lakhs to 436 units as margin money grant and generated employment opportunities to 7492 persons. Also during the same year 537 co-operative societies, 1196 registered institutions, 12805 individual units and 389 departmental units were financed under the pattern of Consortium Bank Credit Schemes through khadi board. With these units' khadi and village industries produced goods worth Rs. 181.69 crore and recorded a sale of Rs. 206.87 crores. Further it provided employment to 171586 persons.

Sericulture

Sericulture is an agro-based industry promoted as a secondary occupation in Kerala. State Sericulture Co-operative Federation (SERIFED) is the nodal agency for promoting sericulture activities. A cluster based development, active involvement of local body and member societies and emphasis on post cocoon technology sector are the three components of sericulture development strategy during the 10th plan.

Under cluster-based approach for development of sericulture, 125 Grama Panchayats covering 40 clusters were selected for the integrated development of the activity. The cocoon production was 77.61 MT in 2004-05 against 59.11 MT in 2003-04.A project, called "Community Silk Weaving" has been implemented in association with the Thiruvananthapuram as a part of commercial production Taluk Sericulture Co-operative Society.

Source: Serifed