25-Mar-2022: IIE signs MoU with MoRD to enhance the impact of the Start-up Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP)

In line with the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat, the Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE) under the aegis of Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), to promote entrepreneurship at a local level amongst the rural youth.

Under the agreement, the Start-up Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP), the sub scheme of the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM), with the core objective of promoting employment opportunities in rural India, particularly developing self-employment avenues for unemployed rural people.

By developing a sustainable model for Village Entrepreneurship Promotion, the programme aims to enable the rural poor (from the SHG ecosystem) to start their own businesses. This will be accomplished through the use of integrated ICT techniques and tools for training, capacity building, business advisory services, and the provision of loans from banks, SHGs, and federations.

Dr. Lalit Sharma, Director of IIE, and Shri Raghvendra Pratap Singh, Director of MoRD, signed the MoU in the presence of Shri Rajesh Aggarwal, Secretary, MSDE, Ms. Anuradha Vemuri, Joint Secretary, MSDE, and Shri Charanjit Singh, Joint Secretary MoRD.

The Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE), Guwahati, Assam, will act as a National Resource Organisation (NRO) for the Start-up Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP) and will provide support to the State Rural Livelihoods Mission (SRLM) for the scheme's successful implementation. The NRO is expected to play a two-fold role in the SVEP's implementation, i.e.  Implementation Role, which will include direct SVEP implementation in the blocks as implementing partners with the States, and Programme Scale-Up Role, in which IIE will be responsible for scaling up the scheme based on the blocks' experience with the SVEP and their prior experience with entrepreneurship development programmes.

The main objective of Start-up Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP) is to develop local resources by training a pool of village level Cadre of Community Resource Persons-Enterprise Promotion (CRP-EP) and build the capacity of the NRLM and SHG federations to monitor, direct the work of the CRPEPs. The programme will also help the rural entrepreneurs to access finance for starting their enterprises from the NRLM SHGs and federations, the banking systems including the MUDRA.

Commenting on the MoU, Mr. Rajesh Aggarwal, Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, said, "The Start-up Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP) being implemented by the IIE is a great way to empower the youth of rural India with the relevant skill sets and promote entrepreneurship at local level. With the experience that IIE has, we will ensure strong implementation mechanism and handholding support to State Rural Livelihoods Missions (SRLMs) implementing Start-up Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP). We are certain that this will further boost the employment opportunities in rural India with a step in the direction of Atmanirbhar Bharat and as our Hon’ble Prime Minister states, Start-ups will be the backbone of the New India of our dreams.”

With the MoU in place, the MoRD will inform all states/UTs about IIE's empanelment as an NRO under the SVEP to help accelerate growth. In addition, IIE will work closely with SRLMs to serve as the SVEP's National Resource Organisation. IIE and the respective SRLM will be in charge of allocating SVEP blocks for implementation. Additionally, because MoRD will not be involved in the allocation of SVEP blocks to NRO for programme implementation, a separate MoU should be signed between NRO and SRLM for SVEP implementation.

The Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE), Guwahati, Assam, established in 1993, is an autonomous organisation under the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship. The institute's main goal is to provide training, research, and consulting services in small and micro enterprises (SMEs), with a special emphasis on entrepreneurship development.

25-Mar-2022: A total of 1947 units are operational across the country under Scheme for Integrated Textile Park

With an objective to provide financial assistance to group of entrepreneurs to establish   state–of-art infrastructure facilities in a cluster for setting up their textile units, Ministry of Textiles has been implementing Scheme for Integrated Textile Park (SITP). The scheme has provisions to support setting up units of textile value chain viz. spinning, weaving, processing and garmenting etc. Under SITP, 1947 units are operational across the country. Out of 1947 units, 454 units are operational in South Region, of which 42 units are operational in the State of Karnataka.

In order to create an integrated workspace and linkages based entrepreneurial ecosystem for (i) promoting entrepreneurship in apparel manufacturing; (ii) creating additional manufacturing; (iii) generating additional employment opportunities; Scheme for Incubation in Apparel Manufacturing (SIAM) was launched during the 12th Five Year Plan.  During this period three project were approved viz.

  1. Incubation Centre in Gwalior;
  2. Incubation Centre in Apparel Manufacturing at Bhubaneshwar
  3. Incubation Centre in Apparel Manufacturing at Panipat.

Steps taken by the Government to promote apparel manufacturing and its export in the country are:-

  1. Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for textiles for Man Made Fibre Fabrics & Apparel, and Technical Textiles has been launched in 2021-22. It is expected to attract investment of Rs. 19000 crore for manufacturing of notified product of the sector and will be able to provide employment opportunity for 7.5 lakh persons.
  2. PM Mega Integrated Textile Regions and Apparel (MITRAs) Parks Scheme to set up 7 Mega Textiles Manufacturing Parks in the country has also been launched in 2021-22. This will reduce logistics cost and will improve Competitiveness of Indian textile manufacturing. Once  completed each park is expected to provide employment to 1 lakh persons directly and 2 lakh persons indirectly.
  3. In order to make textiles products cost competitive and adopting the principle of zero rated export, the Union Cabinet has given approval for continuation of Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies (RoSCTL) on exports of Apparel/Garments (Chapters-61 & 62) and Made-ups (Chapter-63) till 31st March 2024. The other textiles products (excluding Chapter 61, 62 and 63) which are not covered under the RoSCTL are eligible to avail the benefits, if any, under RoDTEP along with other products.
  4. Apart from this, the Government is also running Schemes viz. Amended Technology Up-gradation Scheme (ATUFS), Integrated Processing Development Scheme (IPDS), National Technical Textile Mission (NTTM), etc. for holistic development of textile sector.

17-Sep-2020: Development of Textile Parks

The Government is implementing Scheme for Integrated Textile Park (SITP) which is demand driven and it provides support for creation of world-class infrastructure facilities for setting up of textile units, with a Government of India grant upto 40% of the project cost and Government of India grant upto 90% of the project cost for first two projects (each) in the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir and Union Territory of Ladakh; with ceiling limit of Rs. 40.00 crores for each textile park. The Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) formed by the representatives of local industry, Financial Institutions, State Industrial and Infrastructural Corporations and other agencies of State and Central Governments registered as a Corporate Body under Companies Act would submit their proposal directly to the Ministry for consideration. SITP is thus a demand driven scheme. No representation is pending from Textile ‘Industry’ Federation from any State for development of textile industry and textile parks in their State.

Further, the proposal to set up Mega Textile Parks by the Ministry of Textiles is at the stage of discussion.

The details of programmes initiated by Government to boost the textile industry and the incentives given for textile workers are placed below:-

  1. Knitting and Knitwear Sector: In order to boost production in knitting and knitwear clusters, Government has launched a separate scheme for development of Knitting and Knitwear Sector to boost production in knitting and knitwear cluster at Ludhiana, Kolkata and Tirupur.
  2. Government is implementing Amended Technology Up-gradation Fund Scheme (ATUFS) for technology up-gradation of the textile industry to incentivize production with an outlay of Rs.17,822 crore during 2016-2022. It is expected to attract investment of Rs.1 lakh crore and generate 35.62 lakhs employment in the textile sector by 2022.
  3. Government has launched a special package of Rs.6000 crore in 2016 to boost investment, employment and exports in the garmenting and made-ups sector with the following components viz., (i) full refund is provided under Remission of State Levies (ROSL) to the exporters for the State level taxes; (ii) production linked additional incentive of 10% is provided under the Amended Technology Up-gradation Fund Scheme (ATUFS).
  4. Scheme for Integrated Textile Park (SITP): Government of India grant with a ceiling limit of Rs. 40 crore for setting up textiles parks for creation of world class infrastructure facilities for setting up of textile units.
  5. National Handloom Development Programme, Comprehensive Handloom Cluster Development Scheme, Handloom Weaver Comprehensive Welfare Scheme and Yarn Supply Schemes under which financial assistance is provided for raw material purchase, looms and accessories, design innovation, product diversification, infrastructure development, skill upgradation, marketing of handloom products & loans at concessional rate etc. for enhancing production and boost the textile sector.
  6. National Handicrafts Development Programme (NHDP) and Comprehensive Handicraft Cluster Development Schemes aims at holistic development of handicrafts clusters through integrated approach by providing support on design, technology up-gradation, infrastructure development, market support etc.
  7. PowerTex India: A comprehensive scheme for Powerloom sector with components relating to Power loom up-gradation, infrastructure creation, concessional access to credit, etc.
  8. Silk Samagra – An integrated Scheme for development of silk industry with components of research & development, transfer of technology, seed organization and coordination, market development, quality certification and export.
  9. Jute ICARE for increasing the income of farmers by at least 50% through promotion of certified seeds, better agronomic practices, use of microbial reusing of Jute plant, retting to produce quality of jute, increase productivity and to reduce the cost of jute production for the jute farmers.
  10. North East Region Textile Promotion Scheme (NERTPS) for promoting textiles industry in the NER by providing infrastructure, capacity building and marketing support to all segments of textile industry.

23-Mar-2022: Import of Substandard and Harmful Toys

The import of toys, games, sports equipment from China is showing a declining trend. The imports of these products from China have reduced from 451.71 USD million in 2018-19 to 206.11 USD millions in 2021 (from April 2021 to Jan 2022).

To control import of cheap and sub-standard toys, Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) vide notification No. 33/2015-2020 dated 2.12.2019 has mandated sample testing from each consignment and no permission for sale unless the quality testing is successful. In case of failure, the consignment is either sent back or destroyed at the cost of the importer.

The Government has also issued Toys (Quality Control) Order, 2020 on 25 Feb 2020 through which toys have been brought under compulsory Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certification with effect from 1st Jan 2021. This QCO is equally applicable to domestic manufacturers as well as foreign manufacturers who intend to export their toys to India. As per this QCO,  it is mandatory for toys to conform to Indian standards for safety of toys and bear the standard mark (ISI mark) under license from BIS as per Scheme–I of BIS (Conformity Assessment) regulations 2018, and no person shall manufacture, import, distribute, sell, hire, lease, store or exhibit for sale any toys without the ISI mark. Under the BIS Product Certification scheme, only those foreign manufacturers whose manufacturing and testing capability has been assessed as satisfactory by BIS will be able to obtain BIS licence and thereby, export toys to India.

Further, BIS also undertakes market surveillance activities and factory surveillance in order to check whether the licensee is operating satisfactorily as per the terms of the licence and Scheme of Inspection and Testing is being followed. Samples are also drawn for testing during these surveillance inspections.

16-Dec-2021: Toys Units

Government of India has taken several steps to promote and develop indigenous toy industry. To cater to the design and innovation related needs of MSMEs including toy sector, the Ministry through its network of MSME Technology Centres works for design and development of tools, moulds, dies, jigs, fixtures, prototypes etc. Besides, Ministry of MSME is conducting various skill development programmes for aspiring and existing entrepreneurs in accordance with the demands of industry to fill the gap of skilled workforce in the MSME sector including Toy Industry.

Under the Scheme of Funds for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (SFURTI) of this Ministry, assistance is provided for creation of Common Facility Centres with latest machines, design centres, Raw Material Bank, skill development, exposure visit etc. A total of 14 Toy Clusters across the country have been approved under the scheme benefitting 8839 artisans with an outlay of Rs. 41.60 crore (approx.).

Office of Development Commissioner (Handicrafts) is also providing need based support to Toy Clusters in the area of technology, marketing, soft and hard interventions and infrastructural support for sustainable development of handicraft artisans. Further, Office of Development Commissioner (Handicrafts) has identified 13 Toy Cluster across the country for the overall development of cluster artisans of handmade toys. Virtual Toy fair was also organized during 27 February to 04 March 2021 participating 1074 exhibitors including 215 artisans from these 13 clusters.

  1. Tamil Nadu Defence Industrial Corridor
  2. Strengthening for Industrial Value Enhancement Operation (STRIVE) Project
  3. Coal mining
  4. Industrial Infrastructure Upgradation Scheme (IIUS)
  5. PM Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel (PM MITRA) Parks
  6. NIF Incubation and Entrepreneurship Council (NIFientreC)