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Investment in R&D needs to be increased: Natchiappan

Updated: Dec 11, 2013 04:50:29pm
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New Delhi, Dec 11 (KNN) There is a need to move up from investing one per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in R&D to 2 per cent of GDP through an additional government effort and a much increased private sector effort, Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry E M Sudarsana Natchiappan said.

The Twelfth Plan recognizes this need, Natchiappan informed Parliament today.

The sectoral allocation for Science, Technology and Environment (which includes allocation for R&D) in the 12th Five Year Plan indicates an outlay of Rs 1,67,350 crore as compared to Rs 69,297 crore in the 11th Five Year Plan, he added.

He was speaking about various schemes under manufacturing Ministries/ Departments, whereby assistance is provided as per scheme parameters for setting up of sector-oriented industrial parks.

Among the schemes administered by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, under the scheme of Mega Leather Cluster, Government of India provides graded assistance based on size (area in acres) limited to a certain fixed percentage of the project cost as grant in aid for all components of the project, except the cost of the land, subject to a maximum ceiling of Rs 125 crore per cluster.

Under the Industrial Infrastructure Upgradation Scheme (IIUS) as recast in 2009,central assistance upto 75 per cent of the project cost subject to a ceiling of Rs 60 crore to each project was being provided.

According to the Modified Industrial Infrastructure Upgradation Scheme (MIIUS) notified on July 18 2013, central grant upto 50 per cent of the project cost with a ceiling of Rs 50 crore with minimum State Implementing Agency’s contribution of 25 per cent, is provided, and in case of North Eastern States, the central grant and the minimum contribution of the State Implementing Agency is 80 per cent and 10 per cent respectively. 

Further Natchiappan said that the Government has notified the National Manufacturing Policy (NMP) under which National Investment and Manufacturing Zones (NIMZs) can be set up.

These NIMZs are conceptualized as integrated industrial townships with all important elements necessary to help the growth of manufacturing.

NMP identifies employment intensive industries like textiles and garments; leather and footwear; gems and jewellery and food processing, etc as special focus sectors where India has potential of being cost competitive and potential of generating maximum employment. NMP aims at creating 100 million jobs within a decade and provides for appropriate interventions. (KNN)

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