ASIDE: A Scheme for Creating Industrial Infrastructure
Karnataka ranks top in
the field of flower farming in India with over 18,000 hectares of land under
cultivation. The state accounts for 75 per cent share in India's total flower
production and has the highest area under modern cut flowers. In the past, the
cut flowers were transacted through the process of auction. As a result, the
number of transactions per day was meagre. Therefore the need of a modern
auctioning system to facilitate flower exports was deeply felt.
The International Flower
Auction Yard in Bangalore, which is a joint venture between Karnataka Agro
Industries Corporation and the flower growers of the state, was helped by the
Department of Commerce with a financial assistance aid to maximise the
transactions. The aid also paved the way towards the creation of a hygienic
platform for both sellers and buyers so that the farmers get the maximum price
in export of flowers. The financial assistance of Rupees Three Crore,
which proved to a game changer for the flower growers of the state, was
provided under the Assistance to States for Infrastructure Development and
Exports Scheme (ASIDE) of the Department of Commerce of the Government of
India. The monetary help facilitated in the completion of the project of
replacement of the traditional auctioning system.
Now, with the support
under the ASIDE Scheme, the modern electronic auction clock system helps the
bidders in reducing time loss and maintaining transparency. Along with this,
with the implementation of the new system, the local flower growers were able
to facilitate 800-1000 transactions per day as against 400-500 transactions in
the past when the manual system was in action. The new system was an evidence
of the quick auctioning system, with very large number of small lots being
auctioned through quick price discovery.
The ASIDE Scheme has,
apart to the Karnataka flower growers, proved to be very efficacious and
beneficiary for exports country-wide. Launched in 2002, this Centrally
Sponsored Scheme (CSS) is aimed at involving States / Union Territories in
export effort by providing assistance to them for creating appropriate
infrastructure for development and growth of exports. The scheme provides for
an outlay for development of export infrastructure to be distributed to the
States / UTs according to a pre-defined criterion.
Such activities which
have overwhelming export content were funded through the Scheme, with the sole
motto of the development of infrastructure for exports. The Scheme is
exclusively used for building up infrastructure which does not get reflected
either in the State / UT plan or in the plans of the Central Ministries or its
organisation(s), yet such infrastructure is critical for growth of exports.
Till now, an amount of about
Rs.5700 Crores has been released under the Central and State
components of ASIDE Scheme for creation of the necessary infrastructure in
States / UTs to boost exports. The Scheme has given shape to some of the most
important infrastructure facilities in various States/UTs.
One such infrastructural
development is the Maniram Dewan Trade Centre in Guwahati,
Assam. With the growth in business and trade volumes in the North East region,
along with the necessity for global competitiveness, the need for a Trade
Centre to facilitate organisation of trade fairs and exhibitions and invite
wider participation was being felt in the North East region. To address this
issue, the Assam Trade Promotion Organization, a Special Purpose Vehicle under
the Government of Assam made a proposal for assistance of Rs.28.38 Crore under
the ASIDE Scheme for the construction of Maniram Dewan Trade
Centre. The Centre started its operations in March 2009. It has three air
conditioned exhibition halls and conference rooms, meeting rooms, amphitheatre,
with all modern incidental facilities.
With the construction of
the Trade Centre, the impact on export can be assessed from the increase in
occupancy rate from 8.20 per cent in 2009 to 53.44 per cent in 2011. The Centre
attracted visitors/delegates from various South East Asian countries. The
Centre is serving as a platform for entrepreneurs of the region to display
their products in national and international trade fairs.
Take for instance the
additional infrastructure facilities built at the Calicut Air Cargo Complex
under the ASIDE Scheme. Earlier, the export operations in Calicut Airport were
transacted from within the airport itself. The lack of export processing area
and space requirement for offices for customs, airlines, plant quarantine and
exporters among others, was causing delays in transport of export goods which
resulted in loss in quality and competitiveness of goods. To overcome the
problems faced by exporters, the Kerala State Industrial Enterprises Ltd.
(KSIE) submitted a project report for constructions of "IInd Phase
Construction of Additional Infrastructural Facilities at Calicut Air Cargo
Complex, Karipur" at the total cost of Rs.3.10 crore, with financial
assistance of Rs.15.5. crore under the ASIDE Scheme.
The project involved
construction of buildings, electrification & air-conditioning, fire
detection, fire fighting equipments & security system, machinery &
equipment, computerisation and communication systems. With the completion
of the project, the dwelling time of the cargo was reduced by its speedy
clearance by new X-ray machine. Apart from it, the creation of additional space
and other infrastructural facilities also helped the exporters to protect their
commodities from direct sunlight and rain. It is to be noted that when the
project was partially commissioned during 2008-09, the quantity of exports
increased by 50 per cent. But presently the export volume is 225 per cent more
than what it was in 2007- 08. It has given big boost to the agricultural
exports from Malabar region through the Calicut airport.
The Institute of Auto
parts & Hand Tools Technology in Ludhiana lacked the R&D facilities for
quality improvement of products of Small and Medium Enterprises of the place to
match export standards elsewhere. The Department of Commerce helped in
strengthening the Institute for installation of facilities for reverse
engineering, non-destructive testing and advanced heat treatment processing
with 100 per cent finance of the project cost of Rs.5.18crore under the
ASIDE Scheme. With the financial assistance, the exports in this
sector have gone up from Rs. 6000 crore in 2005-06 to Rs.9500 crore in
2008-09, with the share of Punjab being 30-35 per cent. It has also eased
component sourcing & import substitutability and ensured availability of
advanced technical infrastructure to manufacturers and exporters locally. It
has also resulted in precision manufacturing of product development for global
markets. Besides all these, the project has been successful in creation of skilled
manpower base for various industries and employment generation through training
programs & skills upgradation.
The financial aid under
the ASIDE Scheme hence proved to be a major booster dose for the exporters in
building infrastructural facilities.
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