State govt initiates 'need analysis' survey of industry cooperatives

Based on the findings for each of the industry cooperatives, the state government will be providing necessary assistance for further capacity building.

The state Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise and Textile department has engaged NABCONS, which is a subsidiary of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), to carry out the study.

At present, there are 433 industry cooperatives across the state and representatives from NABCONS will be visiting each of the cooperatives and analyse their actual requirements to ensure further development in infrastruc- ture.

According to a senior official, the work of each cooperative differs from the other in many cases. So, the surveyors will be assessing whether a cooperative needs working capital or capital for building infrastructure, that include setting up of machineries, procurement of small tools and the recurring cost needed by a cooperative.

NABCONS will be submitting its report within the next three months and will also include the amount required for each of the industry cooperatives.

If everything goes as planned then the state government would also approach the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), for its necessary assistance.

Subsequently, the industry cooperatives will be given the required amount, as per the individual study report, as loan through cooperative banks in the state.

This comes at the time when Bengal has topped among all states in the country, in having the maximum number of micro, small and medium enterprises.

With the success, the state government is taking various steps to ensure further growth in the sector and soon after the study reports come, the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise and Textile department will start taking all necessary steps to ensure faster completion of the project, which will help in capacity building for the industry cooperatives.

The department has also taken steps to form industry cooperatives by bringing together farmers in Hills to package and process locally grown herbs and spices.

The department itself had assessed around 55 industry cooperatives and had revealed that they require a fixed capital of Rs 10.60 crore, with Rs 19.40 crore as working capital, sources said.

Top brass of the department had held a discussion in this regard and further steps would be taken based on the report of NABCONS.