D. Kuppuramu taken over as Chairman, Coir Board

KOCHI:
D. Kuppuramu taken over the charge of Chairman, Coir Board today, 14 th July, 2021. Coir Board family gave a warm welcome to the Chairman. Formerly, he was the Director of National Mineral Development Corporation, a Govt. of India Enterprise.

Coir Board came into existence in the year 1953 and it is steering the coir industry during the past sixty eight years for the overall sustainable development of the industry in India. The Head Quarters of the Board is located at Coir House, M.G. road, Kochi, Kerala and is running 46 establishments including 29 marketing outlets across the country. The coir industry plays a vital role in the economic development of the rural areas of the coconut producing states and contributes significantly to the empowerment of women.

The functions mandated under the Coir Industry Act are carried out by Coir Board under the various Schemes/Programmes: including research and development activities, training programmes, extending financial support for setting up of coir units, domestic as well as export market development, welfare measures to the workers etc. The significant highlights of the industry and the activities of the Coir Board are as follows.

 Coir industry sustains more than 7 lakhs of coir workers predominantly women in the coconut producing States of the country.
 In Coir Industry an average of 40% husk is utilised all over the country.
 Coconut husk fetches Rs.10,000 crores turn over out of which Rs.3778.97 crores is export.
 The exports of Coir and Coir products from India during the year 2020-21 registered an all time high record of Rs.3778.97 crores for a total quantity of 1163213 MT with an ever highest growth rate of 37% in terms of value. The export target fixed for coir and coir products by the Ministry of MSME, Government of India for the year 2020-21 was Rs.3500 crores. The achievement during the year, works out to 108% of the target fixed by the Govt. of India.
 Coir Products are eco friendly in nature and awarded with “Eco Mark” by Ministry of Environment and Forests, Govt. Of India. Coir products save
environment and help to reverse Global Warming:
o “Coir pith” can be used to save water
o “Coir Geo textiles” to save soil and
o “Coir Wood” to save trees and forest
 The Board’s Research Institutes are focussing on various R&D projects in coir at their own premises and also in collaboration with various CSIR units and Universities, in the field of spinning and product diversification.
o Development of technologies for maximum utilisation of raw material (coconut husk) based on the zero waste concepts.
o Development of new applications such as aquatic panels, moulding of coir fibre with natural latex for automobile seats and use un Upholstery industry
o Modernization of  fibre extraction and spinning & weaving of coir for enhancement of quality & productivity
o To improve efficiency of coir fibre and   coir yarn production
o Up-gradation in quality of coir products by   implementation of the Ecomark criteria.
o To create a brand image for coir by   showcasing the entire range of handicraft/ innovative diversified coir products.
o To develop new products like wood substitutes out of coir alone or by blending with other natural fibres.
o To demonstrate the technologies developed  by CCRI/CICT to Industry
o Transfer of technologies developed by CCRI/CICT to field
o Coir Board established a Centre of Excellence (C o E) on application of coir exclusively or in combination with other natural fibres at IIT, Madras
o Coir Board established a Centre of Excellence on coir composites (CECC) for utilization of coir fibres for transforming into high value added coir composites for various end use applications at IPIRTI, Bangalore.
o The Ministry of Rural Development has approved 5% use of coir geo textiles for construction of roads in seven States
o Developed coir spinning machinery suitable for modern coir yarn spinning mill in collaboration with Dr. MGR University, Chennai.
 Skill Upgradation Programme & Mahila Coir Yojana

Under the scheme Skill Upgradation and Mahila Coir Yojana, the Board is extending skill training facilities and other promotional programmes like Entrepreneurship Development Programme, Awareness Programme, Workshop, Seminar, Exposure Tour, etc. for attracting more entrepreneurs to the coir sector. The two regular training programmes of the Board are aligned with National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF). During 2020-21 the Board has imparted training to 7145 nos. of trainees in various parts of the Country in which 90% of the trainees are women.

 Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP):
As part of rationalization of the ongoing plan programmes under the Ministry of MSME, the Coir Udyami Yojana (CUY) has been integrated with the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) during March, 2018. As per the revised operational guidelines of the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) approved by the Ministry of MSME vide Office Memorandum No. PMEGP/Policy/5/2017 dated 27.03.2018, the Coir Board had been designated as an agency for implementing the Scheme in Coir Sector.

The Board has been included for identifying Coir units, for their setting up under PMEGP, their handholding and mentoring. Since 1 st April, 2018 only, the Board has been implementing the Scheme in Coir Sector. During the years from 2018-19 to 2020-21, Coir Board had assisted a total 271 nos. of coir units for which an amount of Rs.1,012.24 lakhs has been released by the KVIC as Margin Money Subsidy under the scheme.

 Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (SFURTI)
The main objective of the scheme is to make the traditional industries more competitive, market driven, productive, profitable and capable of providing sustainable employment for traditional industry artisans and rural entrepreneurs. The scheme envisages provision of Common Facility Centres (CFC) and improved tools and equipments for artisans to promote optimum utilization of infrastructure facilities. It also focuses for setting up of multi- product clusters with integrated value chain and a strong market driven approach for viability and long term sustainability of the cluster.

Coir Board is one of the Nodal Agencies under the Ministry of MSME for implementation of this scheme. So far 40 coir clusters have been sanctioned with a total project cost of Rs.141.15 Crores, out of which Government of India (GoI) grant is Rs.117.05 Crores. Out of which, 14 nos. are located in Tamil Nadu, 8 in Karnataka, 5 in Odisha, 4 in Kerala, 3 in Andhra Pradesh, 2 each in Gujarat and Maharashtra and 1 each in West Bengal & UT of Andaman & Nicobar.
Out of the 40 coir clusters 21 clusters have become functional and have started production. The implementation of the remaining clusters are progressing at a faster pace and all clusters are expected to be completed during the current financial year.

While assuming the charge, Chairman said, “with more than sixty eight years of achievements and an ambitious future ahead I am sure that Coir Board would be able to steer the industry further and will raise it to new heights. It is my sincere wish that the coir sector continues to grow in the coming years too, with the consented and combined efforts of all the stake holders of the coir industry and build on its reputation”.