UNIDO to help Jalandhar hand-tool industry

The United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) is all set to help Jalandhar's hand-tool industry in getting expertise and technology ranging from plastic components to hand-tools from China, according to Anthony JC De Sa, director, UNIDO Centre for South-South Industrial Cooperation.

He was speaking on the sidelines of the closing ceremony of "Jalandhar Hand Tools Cluster: A Success Story", part of an initiative of the Confederation of Indian Industry to help small and medium enterprises.

"UNIDO takes Indian expertise and technology to other developing countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America. Similarly, India also requires some expertise and technology from other countries," Anthony said, adding that UNIDO takes the best practices from one place to another.

According to the director, UNIDO takes expert technology on low-cost housing, auto components, renewable energy, food processing and cotton technology from India to other countries in Latin American and Africa.

Addressing industrialists at the closing ceremony, he urged the participants to share their knowledge to help other companies in the region and elsewhere build competitiveness so that every company aspiring for excellence would not have to reinvent the wheel.

The CII cluster project for small and medium enterprises in Jalandhar succeeded in developing internal competitiveness among all the participants, said JR Singhal, vice-chairman, Confederation of Indian Industry, Punjab State Council.

The cluster project for small and medium enterprises in Jalandhar, in which 11 industries took part, had helped them save costs at a time when they had to battle a rising rupee, high raw material cost, interest rates and transportation costs.

The industries participating in the programme have reported a saving of Rs 9.5 crore over a span of 14 months, apart from other benefits such as improvement in housekeeping levels, improved quality and improvement in employee morale.

The companies that participated in the cluster programme undertaken by the CII-LM Thapar Centre for Competitiveness include Ajay Industries, Ambika Forging, Ambika Overseas, Proxima and Victor Forgings. The programme was funded partly by UNIDO.

"The programme not only imparted training on tools and techniques but also provided helped the SMEs in energy management, quality management and cost management," said Sharad Aggarwal, chairman, Export Promotion Council, Jalandhar Hand-Tool Industry, commenting on the success of the Jalandhar cluster.

He explained that the focus was to work on the shop floor and build "permanent individual competencies" in the companies.