THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Four new Common Facility Centres for MSMEs will be established in the state next year. This is part of the Cluster Development Programme (CDP), a joint initiative of the Central and state governments.
The new CFC in the furniture sector will come up in Kozhikode in March. The CFC in the steel furniture sector at Perumbavoor is likely to be opened in May- June, plywood manufacturing at KINFRA Petrochemical Park is likely to be launched in September and pappad manufacturing in Thiruvananthapuram in April-May.
The CDP is aimed at enhancing the productivity and competitiveness as well as capacity building of Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) and their collectives in the country. The CFC will have advanced machinery that can be used by the cluster members at a fair charge. The CFC management can also allow non-member enterprises to use the facility by paying a charge.
The state already has 12 clusters and CFCs. They are the rubber cluster at Changanasserry, plastic cluster at Aluva, Terra tile cluster at Thrissur, Plywood cluster at Perumbavoor, Rice millers cluster at Kalady, Furniture cluster at Perumbavoor, Wood cluster at Perinthalmanna, General engineering cluster at Manjeri, Wood cluster at Chadayamangalam, Offset printing cluster at Kannur, Wood furniture cluster at Taliparamba and Furniture cluster at Chevoor, Thrissur.