THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Coir Board, which has achieved an export worth `2,281.65 crores in 2016-17 has fixed a target at `2,300 crore worth exports for 2017-18, according to Union Minister for MSME Giriraj Singh. He told reporters on the sidelines of the Manager’s Conclave of Coir Board that the Centre was for bringing in a National Coir Policy and also to launch a National Coir Mission. The Coir Board will have its board meeting on Tuesday here.
Noting that there was a steady growth in the export of coir products in the last five years, he said, “In 2012-13, coir products worth `116.2 crore was exported. The fiscal year 2013-14 saw an export of `1,476.03 crore, 2014-15 `1,630.33 crore, 2015-16 `1,901.42 crore. In 2016-17, products worth `2,281.65 crore was exported from the country. The export target fixed for 2017-18 is `2,300 crore.’’
Singh said there was a huge demand for coir products both from domestic as well as international markets. As part of the National Coir Mission, the export target in 2021-22 is `20,000 crore and also to have a domestic market of `40,000 crore. Noting that creating employment was a great challenge in the country, he said there would be employment generation of 20 lakh as per the Mission target.
Pointing out that the MSME department has brought in several changes in textiles and jute industries, Singh said the department was also for bringing in changes in the coir industry. As part of it, the coir board is bringing out coir plywood, which would be less in price when compared to other plywoods. The plywood that has been developed by the Central Institute of Coir Technology.
Stating the Coir Board was for adopting aggressive marketing strategy through portal/franchisee model sales and electronic/social media advertisements, he said modernised showrooms will be opened at Patna, Jammu, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Chennai and Tirupur soon. In a phased manner, all the showrooms would be converted to modern sales points, he said.
The minister mentioned the Common Facility Centre (CFC) at Neyyattinkara provides manufacturing facilities to about 500 coir artisans. He also mentioned that the Common Facility Centre at Balussery in Kozhikode set up at a cost of `130.28 crore was ready for commissioning. The CFC at Haripad was nearing completion. ‘’There is a proposal to adopt three more coir clusters in Kerala under the scheme. The CFCs in the state are expected to benefit over 10,000 small-scale manufacturers/workers,” Singh said.