Lacunas in cluster development schemes preventing Haryana based MSMEs to Benefit from them

Chandigarh, June 17 (KNN)  Another proposal  for the State Mini Cluster Development Scheme by Haryana Government  came for  the rescue and promotion of micro and small enterprises . Though such cluster schemes claim to serve as key strategy  for enhancing the productivity and competitiveness of micro and small enterprises (MSEs), according to the sector they hardly serve their  rightful purpose.

A cluster requires atleast 25 firms producing same or similar products and services  with similar methods of production, quality control , testing, energy consumption and pollution control measures  to come together and form a consortium. These clusters though aim at buildings the capacity of MSMEs by addressing common issues such as improvement of technology, skills and quality, market access and capital availability  are hardly seen serving these purposes.

Bharat Garg, President Haryana Chambers of Commerce and Industry revealed the fact that many such clusters are yet to start at Yamunanagar district, Panipat ,Karnal covering industries like Light Engineering Works , Metals, Plywood etc. But all such clusters are not seen serving the purpose they ought to and  merely seem to serve the  vested  interests of the bigger players who come together to take advantage of the government grant of around 15-20 crores given to the cluster forming  firms.

“The metal MSMEs are going down day by day. Brass industry dying quickly and stainless steel is  also not seen performing well. Aluminium is the only industry surviving its niche but that too has shown a downward graph lately in Haryana. The reasons being non conducive and insufficient demand of such metals in a small state like Haryana along with the lack of raw materials which have to be imported from other states making their  products more expensive”, he added.

No direct impetus  of such clusters   on MSMEs has yet been seen in Haryana.  The benefits are mainly directed to the hands of big corporates who already have the resources but MSMEs for whom loans are most expensive face a major difficulty to set themselves  up.  “There are always some ‘lacunas’ in the formation of such clusters and Government is doing nothing at all to give a direct impetus or leverage to MSMEs,” he said. Now how far will this specific cluster scheme will take MSMEs really depends on how it is planned and executed. (KNN/ GK)