Auto cluster to come up on PSU land

The Pithampur Auto Cluster (PACL), a special purpose vehicle created by the Centre in association with the MP government, will take shape on the premises of closed units of the defunct Madhya Pradesh State Industries Corporation.

The state government has decided to wind up all ADB (Asian Development Bank) assisted units of the corporation and allotted the land for private purposes.

"The state government has decided to allot 5 acres of the closed unit for making umbrellas in Harniakhedi (near Indore)," a government spokesperson said.

Progress on the Pithampur Auto Cluster is slow due to lukewarm response from the private partners (local auto units).

The auto cluster is being set up with an investment of Rs 75 crore, with 15 per cent being contributed by local industrialists under a Union government scheme, namely the Industrial Infrastructure Upgrade Scheme, launched by the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion and Ministry of Commerce & Industry.

The scheme is aimed at improving the competitiveness of the functional cluster.

PACL is also in talks with the Indian Institute of Management, Indore, for training through setting up the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the IIM. The government had proposed to pay a fee of Rs 1.65 crore to the institute for this.

The Union government will contribute 75 per cent of the cost of infrastructure creation and upgrade in the identified cluster. "So far the Union government has sanctioned Rs 16 crore for the purpose," a government source said.