Parks to boost Indian lead in spice trade

Commerce & Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu has inaugurated Rs.1,000 crore worth of projects in 7 States and 2 Union Territories, boosting India’s pivotal position as diamond, jewelry and spice supplier to the global markets.

India is the largest diamond cutting and polishing centre in the world and 14 out of 15 diamonds set in jewelry processed in India, making it the 5th largest jewelry exporter in the world.

India is the largest producer and exporter of spices in the world with more than 65 spices out of the 109 spices listed by ISO. The country has
48% in quantity and 43% in value of the global spice trade.

The inauguration was done through video conference from New Delhi on 22 Feb 2019.

He inaugurated skilling Common Facility Centre (CFC) in Udupi, Karnataka and laid the foundation stone on CFC in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.

The Minister also inaugurated two spices parks in Kota, Rajasthan, and Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh.

Prabhu inaugurated National Institute of Design (NID) campus in Jorhat, Assam and Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh.

IIFT campus was inaugurated at Kolkata, West Bengal and Maidangarhi near Delhi and Footwear Design and Development Institute (FDDI) in Banur, Chandigarh.

Suresh Prabhu said that the CFC in Udupi for traditional jewellery manufacture in South India will be able to produce world class talent in gem and jewellery business for around 1,200 jewellery units that area.

The CFC in Udupi has been established by the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council of India (GJEPC).

The Coimbatore CFC has the capacity to train 50,000 people in the unique jewellery manufacture like Kundan, Meenakari, Bidri, temple jewellery, filigree and Jadau jewellery.

The Minister said that establishment of spices parks is a major initiative of the Ministry to help farmers to get better returns for their produce and to ensure the quality of spices for exports.

The elimination of intermediaries in the supply chain due to direct linkages facilitated by the parks will ensure better prices for the farmers, he said.

Calling for improvement of linkages between spice producers, processes and food processing industry, he said the parks will function as a nodal point for development of the spices industry.

The parks will provide common infrastructure facilities for both post-harvest and processing operation of spices. The parks will facilitate both forward and backward integration.

Both the spices parks have facilities for cleaning, grading and packing at par with international standards.

Prabhu informed that Commerce and Industry Ministry is working to improve skilling in various sectors so that India becomes a part of global value and supply chains.

Design today is an integral part of any product. The multitude of superior handmade products fashioned by Indian artisans are of international standards. These will be a game changer for them.

He further said that the NID campus in Jorhat will now open up the world to the highly skilled artisans especially women who produce high quality handmade products in the North East region of the country.

While inaugurating the IIFT campus in Kolkata and Bhopal, the Minister said: “For India to remain in a leading position, there is an urgent need to reshape our education landscape and to prepare a new generation that will be capable of rising to the challenges of a rapidly changing world and remain competitive globally.”

The IIFT campus in Kolkata offers full time MBA course with specific focus on international business actives leading to policy inputs, research activities, teaching and training for the development of eastern and north-eastern region. The campus has recently set up a centre for North Eastern studies.

The Banur Footwear Design & Development Institute (FDDI) by Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) is one of the 12 campuses of its kind in the country. The campus has state of the art centres for imparting quality education in footwear technology and management, fashion design, leather goods and accessories design and manufacturing and retail management.

Prabhu hoped that the Banur FDDI will add value to the life of the youth of Punjab and surrounding states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttrakhand.

The leather package of Rs.2,600 crore, announced by the centre earlier, is helping FDDI in major infrastructural and capacity augmentation. It aims to bring world class infrastructure and skills development to its campuses and turn them into Centres of Excellence (CoE). fiinews.com