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With a contribution of 40% to the country's industrial
output and 35% to direct exports, the Small-Scale Industry
(SSI) sector has achieved significant milestones for the
industrial development of India. Within the SSI sector, an
important role is played by the numerous clusters that
have been in existence for decades and sometimes even for
centuries. According to a UNIDO survey of Indian SSI
clusters undertaken in 1996 (later updated in 1998), there
are 350 SSI clusters. Also, there are approximately 2000
rural and artisan based clusters in India. It is estimated
that these clusters contribute 60% of the manufactured
exports from India. The SSI clusters in India are
estimated to have a significantly high share in employment
generation.
Some
Indian SSE clusters are so big that they account for 90
per cent of India's total production output in selected
products. As for example, the knitwear cluster of Ludhiana.
Almost the entire Gems and Jewellery exports are from the
clusters of Surat and Mumbai. Similarly, the clusters of
Chennai, Agra and Kolkata are well known for leather and
leather products.
However, the majority of Indian clusters, especially in
the handicrafts sector, are very small with no more than
hundred workers, so specialised that no other place in the
world matches their skills and the quality of their
output. This is the case, for example, of the Paithani
sarees cluster in Maharashtra. However, onlv a tiny
minority of such artisan clusters are globally
competitive.
The formidable challenges created for the SSE sector b v
the liberalization of the Indian economy, as well as its
closer integration within the global economy, have
generated a great deal of interest within India on novel
approaches to SSE development. As a result, both private
and public sector institutions at the Central as well as
the State levels are increasingly undertaking
cluster development initiatives.
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