Manufacturing body shifts focus to aid states

After finalising a national strategy for manufacturing, the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council has now turned its attention to assisting state governments to boost manufacturing activities.

The NMCC has initially identified four states "" Bihar and West Bengal in the eastern part of the country, Punjab in the north and Andhra Pradesh in the south.

The council is assisting each of these states in identifying their thrust areas to boost manufacturing and employment. Other states like Tamil Nadu have also shown interest in interacting with the council.

"We have already held meetings with Bihar and Andhra Pradesh and would be holding meetings with the remaining two states soon. Sectors like food processing, textiles and garments and leather have been identified by the council as thrust areas for Bihar, while information technology, hardware and electronic sector have been identified as thrust areas for Andhra Pradesh," an NMCC functionary said.

NMCC officials said development of manpower skills was another area of focus in the case of states like Bihar which despite being rich in resources, does not have major industries.

"It has been noted that the 4,000 ITIs (Indian Training Institutes) are located only in six states of which four are in the south. It will be useful for states like Bihar to take advantage of the central government's plan to set up more ITIs in the country," officials said.

The council is also providing its inputs in the 11th Five-Year Plan (2007-2012). It will give its views on how to enhance the level of technology in sectors as this was an important component in improving competitiveness, official said.

Officials also said the investment commission and the NMCC have now agreed to work together in four areas "" power, tourism, textiles and garments and food and agro-processing, which were common thrust areas identified by both bodies.

The report of the NMCC and the Investment Commission will be tabled before the Prime Minister's council on trade and industry on July 20.