NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FASHION TECHNOLOGY

KOLKATA

DEPARTMENT OF FASHION MANAGEMENT STUDIES CLUSTER REPORT

TOPIC: EXISTING POSSIBILITIES OF PRODUCT IMAGE & BRANDING

MEGHA SARIN (05) G. N HARIKRISHNAN(18) SHIRIN MORGAN(04) SANKAR SARKAR(05) SHINEY IGNATIUS(21) FMS DEPARTMENT SEMETER III

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CLUSTER A cluster is defined as a concentration of enterprises producing same or similar products or strategic services and is situated within a contiguous geographical area spanning over a few villages, a town or a city and its surrounding areas in a district and face common opportunities and threats. Accordingly, we have not considered activities which are of daily use services and/or where scope for joint action or passive cooperation is minimal or where the product grouping is too wide for common threats/opportunities to emerge. Clusters may be broadly divided into the following broad categories: Industrial cluster: Having at least 100 enterprises and/or a minimum turnover of Rs.100 million. Units in these clusters are functioning from factory premises with hired workers. Such clusters have a mix of micro, small, medium, few large and at times all micro units. Micro-enterprise clusters: Such clusters are all micro units and are mostly done by household based units by mostly utilizing home based workers. These include artisanal (handicrafts and handloom) and other micro enterprise clusters. A handloom cluster has a minimum of about 500 looms and that of handicrafts and other microenterprise clusters is estimated to have around 50 units.

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Table of Contents: S.NO. 1 2 3 4 5 6 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 7 8 8.1 9 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 10 11 12 13 14 CHAPTER ACKNOWLEDGEMENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY LITERATURE REVIEW OBJECTIVE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY INTRODUCTION CLUSTER PRINTING TYPES OF PRINTING BLOCK PRINTING & SCREEN PRINTING GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES & POLICIES CRAFT CLUSTER UNDER STUDY HISTORY CASE STUDY- CLUSTER UNIT 1 UNIT 2 UNIT 3 UNIT 4 MARKET VISIT BRANDING CONCEPTS RECOMMENDATIONS CONCLUSION BIBLIOGRAPHY

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First of all we would like to thank Dr. Annanya Deb Roy, who has been our Guide and Mentor for the accomplishment of the Project. Apart from our efforts, there have been a few People who constantly helped us on my every up and down. We take this as an opportunity to express our gratitude to the people who have been instrumental in the successful completion of our craft cluster project. Last but not the least; we would like to put in a word of thanks to all the faculty members Ms. Ritu Malhotra, Dr. Sougata Banerjee, Mr. D.B.Dutta and Dr. Annanya Deb Roy of NIFT, Kolkata for their constant help and guidance. And above all we would also like to thank the Assistant of the IT Lab for allowing us to use IT Lab for research and processing work. We would also like to express our heartfelt thanks to the Co-ordinators of the Library and Resource Centre of our college, who assisted us in providing with relevant books and websites allowing us to carry out the necessary research work for the project. We would sincerely thank all our faculty teachers who constantly provided us with knowledge and support to be able to complete this project work. We would also like to thank our friends who have helped us a lot with continuous improvement tips in writing the term paper.

Thank you.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

A cluster is defined as a concentration of enterprises producing same or similar products or strategic services and is situated within a contiguous geographical area spanning over a few villages, a town or a city and its surrounding areas in a district and face common opportunities and threats. Textile printing is the process of applying colour to fabric in definite patterns or designs. In properly printed fabrics the colour is bonded with the fiber, so as to resist washing and friction. Textile printing is related to dyeing but, whereas in dyeing proper the whole fabric is uniformly covered with one colour, in printing one or more colours are applied to it in certain parts only, and in sharply defined patterns. In printing, wooden blocks, stencils, engraved plates, rollers, or silk screens can be used to place colours on the fabric. Colourants used in printing contain dyes thickened to prevent the colour from spreading by capillary attraction beyond the limits of the pattern or design.

Traditional textile printing techniques may be broadly categorised into four styles: Direct printing, in which colourants containing dyes, thickeners, and the mordants or substances Necessary for fixing the colour on the cloth are printed in the desired pattern. The printing of a mordant in the desired pattern prior to dyeing cloth; the color adheres only where the mordant was printed.

Resist dyeing, in which a wax or other substance is printed onto fabric which is dyed. The waxed areas do not accept the dye, leaving uncoloured patterns against a coloured ground.

Discharge printing, in which a bleaching agent is printed onto previously dyed fabrics to remove some or all of the colour. Resist and discharge techniques were particularly fashionable in the 19th century, as were combination techniques in which indigo resist was used to create blue backgrounds prior to block-printing of other colours. Most modern industrialised printing uses direct printing 6|Page

techniques.

The conventional hand block printing where the artisan print the impression through small carved wooden blocks on the fabric, one after the other. However, the process is much more laborious due to the pre-requirements of fabric preparation which involved washing, kneading, sun-drying, bleaching and dyeing. Besides, the eco friendly natural vegetable dyes were also prepared in-house, a process that required six to ten weeks for the entire process. This process although time consuming and highly laborious is still being used by a large group of almost 400 entrepreneurs organised as a social community. The industries are traditionally set up in residential area, with the expansion of work and population in the adjoining region finds lack of space, water and other infrastructural facilities. The pollution level has increased quantitatively and qualitatively and the enforcement from government has meant a lingering threat of industry closure, specially due to the polluting nature of screen printing industry. The traditional industry, although not polluting in ideal cases has also resorted to the usage of chemicals and synthetic dyes which require treatment before discharge of effluents. There has been hardly any technological upgradation to make the process less labour intensive and environment friendly.

In order to make quick gains, some of the intermediaries have taken to unethical practices that have lowered the brand image of the entire cluster. The industry, which is presently at the low road end, requires better linkages of the printers with the market to produce what is desired by the consumers, besides developing a self driven mechanism to check such malpractices. In the long term, steps need to be initiated to increase value addition of the product and set up a separate industrial estate with several common facilities for supplies, designs, related services and pollution control. For such units that are non polluting, recognition of the firms as industrial units by the Government will enable them to get access to financial resources provided by banks and better infrastructure facilities by the government. With differing interest groups in the industry, it does not seem feasible to organise them under the same umbrella for the modernisation of this cluster. Smaller groups with active intermediaries will have to locate to initiate small but productively useful activities that would build trust among the firms to enable them take up long terms issues for resolution.

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Poor education background, financial constraints, lack of interface with the local government and high level of dependence on the trader community are likely to be the most crucial bottlenecks. Most of the institutions set up to serve the interests of the industry are not able to fulfil their role due to lack of interest from the beneficiaries and service providers. A market survey in order to understand the scope for future prospects seems to be a necessary prerequisite.

After the study of the clusters visited, it was found that there are no existing brand and product image in the cluster. The need for a brand name is prominent & will benefit the cluster. The traditional aspect of the craft can be tapped. A brand name will give provide awareness about the rich heritage of the craft. Once brand name will be formed, it will help the cluster owners to create a unique market for themselves because of the uniqueness of the craft.

Units in the cluster can open up their own retail store instead of providing their products to the buyers. They can get their brand name, once made, and registered at the regional trademark office. One must make a business plan and financial plan. They should be compliant and make use of the schemes provided by the government. Show-case their products at trade fairs in order to gain recognition.

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LITERATURE REVIEW

According to Diagnostic study of artisan the textile hand printing cluster Jaipur, Rajasthan (1997) USA was the most important export destination for Indian Hand Printed Textiles with a share of almost 32 percent in the total exports of Rs 580 crores in 1995-96. The other important destinations were United Kingdom and Germany with a share of 13.5 percent and with 11 percent respectively.

According to Diagnostic study of artisan the textile hand printing cluster Jaipur, Rajasthan (1997 Screen printing has now led to new ways of printing with the help of screens (sort of printing stencils), although manually operated, yet are capable of large scale printing, several times faster than the hand block printing. It was estimated that on two tables it is possible to print 100 meters length per day. This has led to reduction in the cost of printing with the same designs.

According to Hand Block Printed Textiles (HBPT) Cluster of Jaipur, India (1997) The HBPT cluster of Jaipur consists of around 150 units of hand block printers in the township of Sanganer, 125 block printing units in the village of Bagru and around 20 printing units and 50 exporters of this product in the city of Jaipur. During the early fifties, the industry was mainly in the form of mass consumption. The art of printing was a family tradition, with every member contributing in the process. There was a ready market created by the existing social practices and choices which were used for making typical garments to reflect the caste or any other social identity, e.g. his profession. As an art form it was patronized by the Royal families. In some cases the returns were much above the actual value of the labour and capital employed by the artisan. The returns included wages, profits as well as some rent element due to the excellence of the finished product.

According to Pali cluster report (1994) Most of the units here do job work for traders operating from Pali as well as those from bigger cities like Mumbai, Kolkata and other such big markets. In this model of working, the traders arrange grey and different processes are accomplished at different places. The 9|Page

processors get only conversion cost. Some other units have their own agent based marketing network. The order is taken by these agents and is passed on to the processors who in turn dispatch the required shades and grades. The agent does collection on behalf of the processor and gets his cut for the services rendered. According to Niranjana S (2004), Thinking with Handlooms: Perspectives from Andhra Pradesh, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 39, No. 6, pp. 553-563. Several studies have been conducted on the marketing aspects and the challenges faced in this area by the handloom industry in the recent decades. Niranjana (2004) studied the characteristics, nature of markets, mode of institutional mediation such as cooperatives on the basis of case studies from three regions of Andhra Pradesh, namely, Coastal Andhra, Rayalseema and Telangana. This study contradicted the popular perceptions that handlooms catered to a niche market only, both overseas and in India; and that setting up of cooperatives was a panacea to tackle the problems of yarn, market access and employment of the handloom industry. It was further observed that on one hand the well functioning smaller cooperatives had suffered due to mergers with larger cooperatives and on the other side the apex body of weavers cooperative societies had failed in their marketing strategies which led to the collapse of many cooperatives and ultimately affected the common weaver in the state.

The study suggested that several issues related to the handloom industry required mapping and analysis on the basis of field information. Sharma (2004) traced the success of providing innovative Business Development Services (BDS) in design and product development; upgradaton of weavers skills and development of marketing tie-ups through National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) in different handloom clusters in 14 districts of Andhra Pradesh.

According to Niranjana S, Annapurna M, Syamasundari B, TummuruLatha and Uzramma (2006), Marketing Handlooms, Economic & Political Weekly, Vol. XLI, No. 31,pp. 3361-65. Niranjana et al (2006) attempted to highlight certain trends and processes that typify marketing of handlooms and offered insights into understanding marketing practices of artisanal production. 10 | P a g e

According to Kumar A (2007), Increasing Competitiveness, Yojana, July, pp. 29-33. Kumar (2007) presented the case of Anokhi (a federation of craftsmen) in reviving Rajasthan block prints and changing the way that these craft items were marketed while Aruna M (2006) traced the case study of Urmul Trust in Bikaner, Rajasthan, in making handloom weaving a major income generation activity by product innovation and diversification to cater to the demands of national and international markets. According to Ashis Mithra et al A diagnostic report on cluster development programme of Shantipur cluster, Nadia, West Bengal, Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge, Vol.8 (4), and October 2009. Ashis et al (2009) report on the cluster development programme of Shantipur handloom cluster to formulate a sustainable business plan as well as marketing plan to assist the historic cluster to compete in the ever challenging textile business. The report concludes that there is growing opportunity for market diversification, product diversifications in exports and local markets etc by adopting appropriate level of technology or contemporary methods thereby ensuring better price realization of the produce, and inturn empowerment of the entire handloom weavers community of the cluster. According to Kannan K.P. Political Economy of Labour and Development in Kerala, Centre for Development Studies, January 1998. Kannan (1998) states that in the handloom weaving industry, absence of modernisation (including technological changes) in the Schumpetarian sense, led to the decline of the industry in Kerala. This was despite the demonstrated ability of the workers to innovate products and capture foreign markets for a short span of time. The failure of labour unions to agree to productivity improvements through technological changes and increasingly resorting to 'closed shop' strategies has been particularly emphasized in this respect. According to Reguladevi A.K. Plight of Handloom Weavers: A Study, Kurukshethra, 1st January 1983 Rejuladevi (1983) suggest the government take care of the handloom industry by allocating huge resources for the development of the industry. Socio- economic position of the majority of weavers is not in a better position and the weavers are trying to give up their profession and go to alternative works. 11 | P a g e

A brand is both, tangible and intangible, practical and symbolic, visible and invisible under conditions that are economically viable for the company ( Kapferer, 1986). It is mentioned that the brand is a signtherefore external-whose function is to disclose the hidden qualities of aproduct which are inaccessible to contact (Kapferer, 1997). The brand served to identify a product and to distinguish it from competition Branding is a major issue in product strategy (Kotler, 2000). As the brand was only part of the product, the communication strategy worked towards exposing the brand and creating a brand image. Within the traditional branding model, the goal was to build a brand image, (Aaker and Joachimsthaler, 2000); a tactical element that drives short-term results. Brand equity is a multidimensional construct, which consists of brand loyalty, customer based brand awareness, perceived quality and brand associations. Various researchers contended that brand associations could be recalled in a customers mind as emotional impressions. Brand awareness influences consumer decision making by affecting the strength of the brand associations in their mind, (Keller, 1993). It is also pointed out that there are several dimensions of brand awareness with brand associations (Pitta and Katsanis, 1995). Elisa Giuliani (2010) has identified a firm-centred interpretation of why someindustrial clusters forge ahead and others lag behind and argues that the dynamic growth of a cluster depends on its absorptive capacity and therefore on the capacity of firms to absorb external knowledge and diffuse it into the intra-cluster knowledge system. She also speculates on the relationship existing between the heterogeneity of firms knowledge bases with both intraand extra cluster knowledge systems. It concludes by illustrating that a conceptual link exists between firm-level knowledge bases, the cluster absorptive capacity and its potential for growth. According to Marshall A, Principals of Economics, London, ELBS and Macmillan, 8 th publications, 1974 The concept of cluster is derived from the concept of Industrial District, which owes its genesis to the successful functioning of Italian Industrial districts. The concept of Industrial district is age old. Alfred Marshall (1919) mentioned regarding successfully functioning textile and metal working regions of UK, Germany and France during the latter half of the 19th century. Marshal stated that SMEs can experience economic gains when clustered in terms of geographic concentration and performing a typical industrial activity. This can be 12 | P a g e

gained through inter-firm division of labour. Economic gains are reinforced through the evolution of a common set of cultural and social values, which may be termed as the local industrial atmosphere (Marshal: 1974)

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OBJECTIVE

Primary objective To study the business process and management of the printing cluster of Serampore

SECONDARY OBJECTIVE(S):

To identify the existing possibilities of product image and branding.

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Research Methodology Research Design: This work can be categorized as exploratory research, involves surveys, consultation with experts in the field, to analyze selected cases. Apart from this this can be descriptive in nature. Sources of Data: The present study is based on both secondary information and primary data. The secondary data has been extracted from books and websites. The main aim of collecting primary data was to analyze the perception and behavior of customers towards the different printing brand. According to the Nature of Data: The research will be Quantitative as well as qualitative in nature. Quantitative Research refers to the systematic investigation statistical, mathematical or computational techniques are used in this case According to the Coverage: Macro Study According to the Research Methods used: It is a Empirical Research or a data-based research, coming up with conclusions which are capable of being verified with observation According to the Time Frame: It will be a Longitudinal Research as the analysis would require data for the past 5-6 years According to the Purpose of the Study: Exploratory Study as well as causal effect study Research process Phase 1: Exploratory Research 1. Research definition 2. Desk research. This involved the following: i) Understanding printing sector in the West Bengal ii)Understanding printing sector in Serampore 3. Planning the Research project

4. Ethnography research involving faculty and students i) Undertaken to study and capture the system of meaning in the lives of the printing cluster community ii) Undertaken to identify the various stakeholders of the clusters iii) On -field study by a group of 5 personnel 15 | P a g e

iv) Research initiated to assist develop schedule for the next stage of study Phase 2: Design of questionnaire 1. Qualitative information needs 2. Plan for respondent cooperation 3. Design, pre-test and revision of questionnaire Phase 3: Sampling Frame and Data collection 1. Drawing of sampling frame and identification of respondents 2. Execution survey Phase 4: Data Analysis and Inference 1. Content analysis of the survey data 2. Interpretation of the data 3. Drawing Inferences

Phase 5: 1. 2. Presentation of the research findings Submission of the report

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6.1 INTRODUCTION

Cluster A cluster is defined as a concentration of enterprises producing same or similar products or strategic services and is situated within a contiguous geographical area spanning over a few villages, a town or a city and its surrounding areas in a district and face common opportunities and threats. Accordingly, we have not considered activities which are of daily use services and/or where scope for joint action or passive cooperation is minimal or where the product grouping is too wide for common threats/opportunities to emerge. A cluster is defined as a geographic concentration (a city/town/few adjacent villages and their adjoining areas)of units producing near similar products and facing common opportunities and threats. An artisan cluster is defined as geographically concentrated (mostly in villages/townships) household units producing handicraft/handloom products. In a typical cluster, such producers often belong to a traditional community, producing the long-established products for generations. Indeed, many artisan clusters are centuries old Artisan.

Clusters may be broadly divided into the following broad categories Industrial cluster: Having at least 100 enterprises and/or a minimum turnover of Rs.100 million. Units in these clusters are functioning from factory premises with hired workers. Such clusters have a mix of micro, small, medium, few large and at times all micro units. Micro-enterprise clusters: Such clusters are all micro units and are mostly done by household based units by mostly utilising home based workers. These include artisanal (handicrafts and handloom) and other micro enterprise clusters. A handloom cluster has a minimum of about 500 looms and that of handicrafts and other microenterprise clusters is estimated to have around 50 units.

Methodology and Evolution for Identification of Clusters Methodology: Globally there are two methods of cluster identification viz. statistical method and primary method. Literature on cluster identification methodology also supports the combination of both methods because of the limitation of both the methods. Most industrially developed countries, particularly USA, UK and Italy have used statistical methods that tend to measure the sectoral and geographical intensity of enterprises drawn from national statistics available about enterprises. The challenge of most developing countries is the lack of such data, further accentuated by high level of informal economy making it extremely difficult to reach verifiable numbers. Second challenge is that there is no law that recognizes and defines clusters in terms of the number of enterprises, scale of output and the geographical boundaries considered sufficient to contain the number of enterprises. Considering the wide typology of enterprises in terms of their size, technology used, market accessed and most important the intent to provide public support through a large number of Ministries, some parameters about clusters have been fixed 17 | P a g e

to draw administrative criteria for provision of public assistance. For example, clusters in India have been segregated based on whether the looms used for weaving fabric are hand operated because this industry is supported by a national department of handlooms. Another set of clusters called Khadi clusters that are supported and regulated through Khadi Village Industries Commission are those where the fabric is made using hand spun and hand woven yarn. A separate national department is responsible for handicrafts, another one for coir industry and yet another one for information technology based enterprises. Finally, there is a full national commissionerate to support micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) under national ministry of MSMEs that has a number of enterprises overlapping with other typologies. Census often made by different departments is made using different criteria and at different times thus making aggregation extremely difficult. So the option that we were left with was to draw upon available statistical information, cluster level studies, source opinions from knowledgeable people including policy makers, funding institutions, regulators, credit providing organizations, development agencies and business membership organizations. Cross verification of the analysis made and numbers formed have therefore taken more than 14 years since 1996 when the first attempt to this effect was made in the context of India. Thereon, the numbers and diversity has increased to unearth a rich and wide variety of congregations of enterprises that Indian smaller enterprises are made of. The work even after 14 years can be called as work in progress and this observatory makes a humble attempt to document what is available so far that hopefully will provide insights to what can be done to freeze the picture at a given point of time and what more may be undertaken in future.

Evolution: The process of identifying clusters in India started with UNDP project (TSS 1) implemented by UNIDO 1996. This publication was authored by Mr. Mukesh Gulati at present Executive Director of Foundation for MSME Clusters. This publication identified 138 industrial and 1657 artisanal clusters. This list of industrial clusters also found place in the Abid Hussian Committee report published in 1997. Thereafter the list was gradually increased to 338 industrial clusters and approximately 2500 artisan clusters under the auspicious of the four UNIDO projects US/GLO/95/144, US/IND/97/148, US/GL/02/059 and US/IND/01/193 executed during the years 1997 to 2005. During these projects the UNIDO team interacted with number of informed persons (representative of industry associations, State Government Directorates of Industries & Crafts, their District Industries Centres, other technical institutions, the then office of Development Commissioner, Small Scale Industries (DCSSI) and its regional offices Small Industries Service Institutes (SISIs), etc. The information was collected both by seeking information directly and also during the various cluster development training programmes that UNIDO conducted since the year 2000 directly as well as with other institutions like Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII) Ahmedabad, Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE) Guwahati, NISIET (now National Institute for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises NIMSME) Hyderabad, Kerala Bureau of Industrial Promotion (K-BIP) Thiruvananthapuram. Data was also shared with DICs/SISIs and response was incorporated 18 | P a g e

wherever possible. This helped the list of industrial clusters to grow up to 338 by the year 2004/2005. During these projects, UNIDO also collected number of reports and census document on handicraft and handloom clusters and thus a list of around 2500 handicrafts clusters and 535 handloom clusters was also created. By the year 2008, a chain of UNIDO projects came to a close and before that the Foundation for MSME Clusters was created at the suggestion of the Govt. of India and technical support of UNIDO, in the year 2005. The Foundation planned in the year 2009 to update the available list of clusters compiled under the UNIDO string of cluster projects. The Foundation has for over the period 2008-11, did the following to update the resources with financial support drawn from the project Promoting Innovation Clusters in India funded by Department of Science & Technology, Ministry of Science & Technology, Govt. of India: 1. Interact with the office of DCMSME to get access to the list of clusters and diagnostic studies undertaken under their ongoing scheme of assistance MSECDP (Micro, Small Enterprises Cluster Development Programme). Here the All India Census of SMEs undertaken in the year 2003 by the office of DCMSME was also helpful to identify the industrial clusters. 2. Interact with various State Governments during the process of training that the Foundation provided to their teams and gathered knowledge about more clusters along with their details. During this process the Foundation has interacted with the state governments of West Bengal, Kerala, Haryana and also with various institutions which have regional presence including the NIMSME, KBIP, EDII, IIE, Cane and Bamboo Technology Center (CBTC) etc. Apart from this the Foundation also interacted with the representatives of over 150 associations all over India and gathered intelligence from them regarding the presence of clusters. 3. The Foundation also got useful information from a number of other financial institutions particularly, Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) 4. Information was also verified with net based survey and feedback received internally from the four regional offices of the Foundation. The Foundation also did primary survey of the clusters of Orissa undertaken in the year 2008 with support from interns drawn from Indian Institute of Forest Management 5. It may be mentioned here that this portal has data about the estimated number of firms in the clusters and/or estimated gross financial turnover for around 60% of industrial clusters. Similarly there is already a confirmation about the estimated number of looms in over 80% of the handloom clusters. Similar information for handicraft clusters is in the range of 25% of clusters. At times it is also not sure as to whether the figures available are number of artisans or household units. However we have retained all cases where no further data is available, to verify it at some later point of time. 6. In most of the cases these clusters are spread over a place a city/few villages/contiguous blocks of a district. Such data are based on diagnostic studies undertaken by various institutions who have undertaken primary sample based surveys for cluster analysis. But in cases of secondary data from other sources, identification of units in a district has also been considered as a cluster. These clusters need to be verified as clusters as and when cluster diagnostic studies shall be undertaken.

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6.2 Textile printing Textile printing is the process of applying colour to fabric in definite patterns or designs. In properly printed fabrics the colour is bonded with the fiber, so as to resist washing and friction. Textile printing is related to dyeing but, whereas in dyeing proper the whole fabric is uniformly covered with one colour, in printing one or more colours are applied to it in certain parts only, and in sharply defined patterns. In printing, wooden blocks, stencils, engraved plates, rollers, or silk screens can be used to place colours on the fabric. Colourants used in printing contain dyes thickened to prevent the colour from spreading by capillary attraction beyond the limits of the pattern or design. Traditional textile printing techniques may be broadly categorised into four styles: Direct printing, in which colourants containing dyes, thickeners, and the mordants or substances Necessary for fixing the colour on the cloth are printed in the desired pattern. The printing of a mordant in the desired pattern prior to dyeing cloth; the color adheres only where the mordant was printed. Resist dyeing, in which a wax or other substance is printed onto fabric which is dyed. The waxed areas do not accept the dye, leaving uncoloured patterns against a coloured ground. Discharge printing, in which a bleaching agent is printed onto previously dyed fabrics to remove some or all of the colour. Resist and discharge techniques were particularly fashionable in the 19th century, as were 20 | P a g e

combination techniques in which indigo resist was used to create blue backgrounds prior to block-printing of other colours. Most modern industrialised printing uses direct printing techniques. Origin Woodblock printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and probably originating in China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later paper. As a method of printing on cloth, the earliest surviving examples from China date to before 220. Textile printing was known in Europe, via the Islamic world, from about the 12th century, and widely used. However, the European dyes tended to liquify, which restricted the use of printed patterns. Fairly large and ambitious designs were printed for decorative purposes such as wall-hangings and lectern-cloths, where this was less of a problem as they did not need washing. When paper became common, the technology was rapidly used on that for woodcut prints. Superior cloth was also imported from Islamic countries, but this was much more expensive. The Incas of Peru, Chile and the Aztecs of Mexico also practiced textile printing previous to the Spanish Invasion in 1519; but owing to the imperfect character of their records before that date, it is impossible to say whether they discovered the art for themselves, or, in some way, learned its principles from the Asiatics. During the later half of the 17th century the French brought directly by sea, from their colonies on the east coast of India, samples of Indian blue and white resist prints, and along with them, particulars of the processes by which they had been produced, which produced washable fabrics. 6.3 Methods of Printing Hand block printing This process, though considered by some to be the most artistic, is the earliest, simplest and slowest of all methods of printing. In this process, a design is drawn on, or transferred to, a prepared wooden block. A separate block is required for each distinct colour in the design. A block cutter carves out the wood around the heavier masses first, leaving the finer and more delicate work until the last so as to avoid any risk of injuring it during the cutting of the coarser parts. When finished, the block presents the appearance of flat relief carving, with the design standing out. Fine details are very difficult to cut in wood, and, even when successfully cut, wear down very rapidly or break off in printing. They are therefore almost invariably built up in strips of brass or copper, bent to shape and driven edgewise into the flat surface of the block. This method is known as coppering. To print the design on the fabric, the printer applies colour to the block and presses it firmly and steadily on the cloth, ensuring a good impression by striking it smartly on the back with a wooden mallet. The second impression is made in the same way, the printer taking care to see that it fits exactly to the first, a point which he can make sure of by means of the pins with which the blocks are provided at each corner and which are arranged in such a way that when 21 | P a g e

those at the right side or at the top of the block fall upon those at the left side or the bottom of the previous impression the two printings join up exactly and continue the pattern without a break. Each succeeding impression is made in precisely the same manner until the length of cloth is fully printed. When this is done it is wound over the drying rollers, thus bringing forward a fresh length to be treated similarly. If the pattern contains several colours the cloth is usually first printed throughout with one, then dried, and printed with the second, the same operations being repeated until all the colours are printed. Block printing by hand is a slow process it is, however, capable of yielding highly artistic results, some of which are unobtainable by any other method. Perrotine printing The perrotine is a block-printing machine invented by Perrot of Rouen in 1834, and practically speaking is the only successful mechanical device ever introduced for this purpose. For some reason or other it has rarely been used in England, but its value was almost immediately recognized on the Continent, and although block printing of all sorts has been replaced to such an enormous extent by roller printing, the perrotine is still largely employed in French, German and Italian works. The construction of this ingenious machine is too complex to describe here without the aid of several detailed drawings, but its mode of action is roughly as follows: Three large blocks (3 ft. long by 3 to 5 in. wide), with the pattern cut or cast on them in relief, are brought to bear successively on the three faces of a specially constructed printing table over which the cloth passes (together with its backing of printers blanket) after each impression. The faces of the table are arranged at right angles to each other, and the blocks work in slides similarly placed, so that their engraved faces are perfectly parallel to the tables. Each block is moreover provided with its own particular colour trough, distributing brush, and woollen colour pad or sieve, and is supplied automatically with colour by these appliances during the whole time that the machine is in motion. The first effect of starting the machine is to cause the colour sieves, which have a reciprocating motion, to pass over, and receive a charge of colour from, the rollers, fixed to revolve, in the colour troughs. They then return to their original position between the tables and the printing blocks, coming in contact on the way with the distributing brushes, which spread the colour evenly over their entire surfaces. At this point the blocks advance and are gently pressed twice against the colour pads (or sieves) which then retreat once more towards the colour troughs. During this last movement the cloth to be printed is drawn forward over the first table, and, immediately the colour pads are sufficiently out of the way, the block advances and, with some force, stamps the first impression on it. The second block is now put into gear and the foregoing operations are repeated for both blocks, the cloth advancing, after each impression, a distance exactly equal to the width of the blocks. After the second block has made its impression the third comes into play in precisely the same way, so that as the cloth leaves the machines it's fully printed in three separate colours, each fitting into its proper place and completing the pattern. If necessary the forward movement of the cloth can be arrested without in any way interfering with the motion of the block, san arrangement which allows any insufficiently printed impression to be repeated in exactly the same place with a precision practically impossible in hand printing. For certain classes of work the perrotine possesses great advantages over the hand-block; for not only is the rate of production greatly increased, but the joining up of the various 22 | P a g e

impressions to each other is much more exacting fact, as a rule, no sign of a break in continuity of line can be noticed in well-executed work. On the other hand, however, the perrotine can only be applied to the production of patterns containing not more than three colours nor exceeding five inches in vertical repeat, whereas hand block printing can cope with patterns of almost any scale and continuing any number of colours. All things considered, therefore, the two processes cannot be compared on the same basis: the perrotine is best for work of a utilitarian character and the hand-block for decorative work in which the design only repeats every 15 to 20 in. and contains colours varying in number from one to a dozen. Engraved copperplate printing The printing of textiles from engraved copperplates was first practiced in the United Kingdom by Thomas Bell in 1770. The presses first used were of the ordinary letterpress type, the engraved plate being fixed in the place of the type. In later improvements the well-known cylinder press was employed; the plate was inked mechanically and cleaned off by passing under a sharp blade of steel; and the cloth, instead of being laid on the plate, was passed round the pressure cylinder. The plate was raised into frictional contact with the cylinder and in passing under it transferred its ink to the cloth. The great difficulty in plate printing was to make the various impressions join up exactly; and, as this could never be done with any certainty, the process was eventually confined to patterns complete in one repeat, and was made obsolete by roller printing. Roller printing, cylinder printing, or machine printing This elegant and efficient process was patented and worked by Bell in 1785 only fifteen years after his application of the engraved plate to textiles. Bell's first patent was for a machine to print six colours at once, but, owing probably to its incomplete development, this was not immediately successful, although the principle of the method was shown to be practical by the printing of one colour with perfectly satisfactory results. The difficulty was to keep the six rollers, each carrying a portion of the pattern, in perfect register with each other. This defect was soon overcome by Adam Parkinson of Manchester, and in 1785, the year of its invention, Bells machine with Parkinson's improvement was successfully employed by Messrs Livesey, Hargreaves and Company of Bamber Bridge, Preston, for the printing of calico in from two to six colours at a single operation. The advantages possessed by roller printing over other contemporary processes were three: firstly, its high productivity, 10,000 to 12,000 yards being commonly printed in one day of ten hours by a single-colour machine; secondly, by its capacity of being applied to the reproduction of every style of design, ranging from the fine delicate lines of copperplate engraving and the small repeats and limited colours of the perrotine to the broadest effects of block printing and to patterns varying in repeat from I to 80 in.; and thirdly, the wonderful exactitude with which each portion of an elaborate multicolour pattern can be fitted into its proper place without faulty joints at its points of repetition.

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Stencil printing The art of stenciling is not new. It has been applied to the decoration of textile fabrics from time immemorial by the Japanese, and, of late years, has found increasing employment in Europe for certain classes of decorative work on woven goods for furnishing purposes. The pattern is cut out of a sheet of stout paper or thin metal with a sharp-pointed knife, the uncut portions representing the part that is to be reserved or left uncoloured. The sheet is now laid on the material to be decorated and colour is brushed through its interstices. It is obvious that with suitable planning an all over pattern may be just as easily produced by this process as by hand or machine printing, and that moreover, if several plates are used, as many colours as plates may be introduced into it. The peculiarity of stenciled patterns is that they have to be held together by ties, that is to say, certain parts of them have to be left uncut, so as to connect them with each other, and prevent them from falling apart in separate pieces. For instance, a complete circle cannot be cut without its center dropping out, and, consequently, its outline has to be interrupted at convenient points by ties or uncut portions. Similarly with other objects. The necessity for ties exercises great influence on the design, and in the hands of a designer of indifferent ability they may be very unsightly. On the other hand, a capable man utilizes them to supply the drawing, and when thus treated they form an integral part of the pattern and enhance its artistic value whilst complying with the conditions and the process. For single-colour work a stenciling machine was patented in 1894 by S. H. Sharp. It consists of an endless stencil plate of thin sheet steel that passes continuously over a revolving cast iron cylinder. Between the two the cloth to be ornamented passes and the colour is forced on to it, through the holes in the stencil, by mechanical means. Screen-printing Screen printing is by far the most used technology today. Two types exist: rotary screen printing and flat (bed) screen printing. A blade squeezes the printing paste through openings in the screen onto the fabric. Digital textile printing Digital textile printing, often referred to as direct to garment printing, DTG printing, and digital garment printing is a process of printing on textiles and garments using specialized or modified inkjet technology. Inkjet printing on fabric is also possible with an inkjet printer by using fabric sheets with a removable paper backing. Today major inkjet technology manufacturers can offer specialized products designed for direct printing on textiles, not only for sampling but also for bulk production. Since the early 1990s, inkjet technology and specially developed water-based ink (known as dye-sublimation or disperse direct ink) has offered the possibility of printing directly onto polyester fabric. This is mainly related to visual communication in retail and brand promotion (flags, banners and other point of sales applications). Printing onto nylon and silk can be done by using an acid ink. Reactive ink is used for cellulose based fibers, such as cotton and linen. Using inkjet technology in digital textile printing allows for single pieces, mid-run production and even long-run alternatives to screen printed fabric.

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Other methods of printing Although most work is executed throughout by one or other of the seven distinct processes mentioned above, combinations of them are frequently employed. Sometimes a pattern is printed partly by machine and partly by block; and sometimes a cylindrical block is used along with engraved copper-rollers in the ordinary printing machine. The block in this latter case is in all respects, except that of shape, identical with a flat wood or coppered block, but, instead of being dipped in colour, it receives its supply from an endless blanket, one part of which works in contact with colour-furnishing rollers and the other part with the cylindrical block. This block is known as a surface or peg roller. Many attempts have been made to print multicolour patterns with surface rollers alone, but hitherto with little success, owing to their irregularity in action and to the difficulty of preventing them from warping. These defects are not present in the printing of linoleum in which opaque oil colours are used, colours that neither sink into the body of the hard linoleum nor tend to warp the roller.

'Inkjet Printing on Fabric' is a way anyone can print on fabric using their home printer. Specially treated Cotton, as well as various types of Bamboo and Silk fabric sheets, are available in various sizes. The fabric sheets have a paper backing which enable the fabric to go through the inkjet printer. Family photos printed on fabric are used to make memory quilts, pillows, notebook covers, wall hangings, ornaments and many other products. The printed fabric is dipped in water to set the ink after the inkjet ink dries, making it washable. Print on Fabric paper-backed inkjet sheets are available on Amazon and other websites. The printing of yarns and warping is extensively practiced. It is usually carried on by a simple sort of surface printing machine and calls for no special mention. Lithographic printing, too, has been applied to textile fabrics with somewhat qualified success. Its irregularity and the difficulty of printing all over patterns to repeat properly, have restricted its use to the production of decorative panels, equal in size to that of the plate or stone, and complete in themselves. Pad printing has been recently introduced to textile printing for the specific purpose of printing garment tags (care labels).

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Chapter 7-BLOCK AND SCREEN PRINTING

Block Printing

History India has been renowned for its printed and dyed cotton cloth since the 12th century and the craft flourished as the fabric received royal patronage. Though the earliest records mention the printing centers in the south, the craft seems to have been prevalent all over India. The earliest centers for block printing seem to have been located in what are now the states of Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. From these centers, the craft appears to have spread gradually with the migration of craftworkers to other areas. Centers such as Sanganer in Rajasthan rose to prominence in the 18th century. Other centers such as Serampur developed even later, becoming the hub of block printing in West Bengal only in the 1940s. Now, there is the increasing phenomenon of block printing units being set up in urban areas including Calcutta and Jaipur city. Regions Block printing is practiced in many different geographical regions of India with each area having its own particular local aesthetic. The main centers where block printing is practiced are: Andhra Pradesh: Hyderabad, Machalipattnam (Kalamkari) Gujarat: Ahmedabad (Pethapur), Kutch, Porbandar, Rajkot Rajasthan: Bagru, Chittroli, Sanganer, Jaipur, Jodhpur Madhya Pradesh: Bagh, Behrongarh, Indore, Mandsar, Burhanpur Uttar Pradesh: Benares (Block-makers), Farrukabad, Pilakhuan (Block-makers) West Bengal: Calcutta, Serampur Each of these regions traditionally had distinct design elements with unique color schemes and motifs. Although the commercialization of the craft has seen a convergence in design elements between the various regions, block printed fabric by expert craftworkers from each of these regions are still identifiable by its region of origin.

Raw Materials

Block printing has become popular because the simple process can create intricate designs in rich and vibrant colors. Originally natural dyes were used but today they have been replaced by chemical and artificial colors. Tools The main tools of the printer are wooden blocks in different shapes - square, rectangle, oval, round and semi-circular or crescent - and sizes called bunta. Blocks are hand-carved of seasoned teak wood by trained craftsmen. On the bottom face the motif are engraved with steel chisels of different widths and cutting surface by the carver. Each block has a wooden handle and two to three cylindrical holes drilled into the block for free air passage and also to allow release of excess printing paste. The new blocks are soaked in oil for 10-15 days to 26 | P a g e

soften the grains in the timber. These blocks sometimes have metal over the wood. Metal sheets are beaten by hand and made wafer thin and malleable. The thin sheets are then cut into strips of even length. The design of the block is drawn on the wooden block and the thin metal strips are pressed onto the design and gently hammered in. The designs are filled in from the center to the outside to allow maneuverings of the hand. After the design is completed the design is checked to see if all the brass strips are of the same height from the wooden base. This is to ensure good high level of printing. Brass blocks are used in case of very fine designs and for a high level of clarity in print. They also last much longer and are more expensive and time consuming to make. Printing Process

Block printing is undertaken on both cotton and silk fabrics of varying counts. The fabric requires a pre-printing treatment where the fabric to be printed is washed free of starch and soft bleached if the natural grey of the fabric is not desired. If dyeing is required as in the case of saris, where borders or the body is tied and dyed, it is done before printing. The fabric is stretched over the printing table and fastened with small pins (in the case of saris the pallu is printed first then the border). Historically, the fabric was stretched across a low table, usually about 2 feet wide and 5 feet long, and the craftworker sat on the floor while imprinting the fabric. However, since 1950, this has gradually changed with the tables now being waist high and measuring approximately 3 feet wide and 9 feet long. [L 9 X W 3 X H 3 feet] Each table now may have multiple block printers working simultaneously on imprinting the fabric depending upon the intricacies of the design. The block printer pushes along small wooden trolleys with racks that have castor wheels fastened to their legs to facilitate free movement as he works. On the upper most shelf trays of dye are placed. On the lower shelves printing blocks are kept ready. These blocks are then dipped in dye and imprinted on to the fabric by a skilled block-printer. The printing starts form left to right. The color is evened out in the tray with a wedge of wood and the block dipped into the outline color (usually black or a dark color). When the block is applied to the fabric, it is slammed hard with the fist on the back of the handle so that a good impression may register. A point on the block serves as a guide for the repeat impression, so that the whole effect is continuous and not disjoined. The outline printer usually is more experienced because he is the one who leads the process. If it is a multiple color design the second printer dips his block in color again using the point or guide for a perfect registration to fill in the color. The third color if existent follows likewise. Skill is necessary for good printing since the colors need to dovetail into the design to make it a composite whole. A single color design can be executed faster, a double color takes more time and multiple color design would mean additional labor and more color consumption. Different dyes are used for silk and cotton. Rapid fast dyes, indigo sol and pigment dyes are cotton dyes. Printing with rapid dyes is a little more complicated as the dyes once mixed for printing have to be used the same day. Standard colors are black, red, orange, brown and mustard. Color variation is little difficult and while printing it is not possible to gauge the quality or depth of color. It is only after the fabric is processed with an acid wash that the final color is established. Beautiful greens and pinks are possible with indigo sol colors but pigment colors are more popular today because the process is simple, the mixed colors can be stored for a period of time, subtle nuances of colors are possible, and new shades evolve with the mixing of two or three colors. Also the colors are visible as one prints and do not change after processing. Colors can be tested before printing by merely applying it onto the fabric. The pigment color 27 | P a g e

is made up of tiny particles, which do not dissolve entirely and hence are deposited on the cloth surface while rapid dyes and indigo sols penetrate the cloth. Pigment colors are mixed with kerosene and a binder. The consistency should be just right, for if it is too thick it gives a raised effect on the material, which spoils the design. Small plastic buckets with lids are ideal for storing the mixed colors over a few days. Fabrics are dried out in the sun after the pigment printing as part of the fixing process. They are rolled in wads of newspapers to prevent the dye form adhering to other layers and steamed in boilers constructed for the purpose. Silks are also steamed this way after printing. After steaming, the material is washed thoroughly in large quantities of water and dried in the sun, after which it is finished by ironing out single layers, which fix the color permanently. The craft of Block printing is therefore characterized by the following processes that are integral to the craft: The blocks for imprinting are hand-carved by skilled artisans in wood These hand-carved block are used to imprint the design onto the fabric The imprinting is done by hand by a skilled block printer

TYPES OF BLOCK PRINTING Pigment dyes Pigment colors are mixed with k erosene and a binder. The consistency should be just right, for if it is too thick it gives a raised effect on the material, which spoils the design. Small plastic buckets with lids are ideal for storing the mixed colors for a few days. The motif is printed directly on white or light-colored ground with a variety of pigment colors. Pigment colors are widely popular today because the process is simple, the mixed colors can be stored for a period of time, subtle nuances of colors are possible, and new shades evolve with the mixing of two or three colors. Also the colors are visible as one prints and do not change after processing. Colors can be tested before printing by merely applying it onto the fabric. The pigment color is made up of tiny particles, which do not dissolve entirely and hence are deposited on the cloth surface while rapid dyes and indigo sols penetrate the cloth. Rapid fast Colors In this process, the ground color and the color in the design are printed on white and/or lightcolored grounds in one step. The dyes once mixed for printing have to be used the same day. Standard colors are black, red, orange, brown and mustard. Color variation is somewhat difficult and while printing it is not possible to gauge the quality or depth of color.

Discharge Dyes These dyes are used if you need to print onto a dark background. Medium to dark grounds are dyed on fabric with specially prepared dyestuff . The printing colors then used on the fabric contain a chemical that interacts with the dye. This interaction simultaneously bleaches the color from the dyed ground and prints the desired color on its place. Areas can also be 28 | P a g e

discharged and left white. The primary advantage of this process is that vivid and bright colors along with white can be printed on top of medium and dark grounds.

Napthol / Reactive dyes As the name suggests, these are two sets of chemicals which upon reaction produce a third chemical essentially colorful in nature. Fabric is dyed in one and later printed with the other. The chemical reaction produces a third color. However, the biggest drawback of this process is that there are just a few chemicals available which produce colors upon reaction. Vegetable / Natural dyes Historically of great importance, these dyes have acquired even greater importance now because of their eco-friendly nature. Bagru Black This is derived by mixing acidic solution of iron - often rusted nails/horse shoes etc. with jaggery (country sugar) allowed to rot for about 10-15 days. Many other natural substances used for producing dyes are pomegranate skins, bark of mango tree, vinegar, slaked lime etc.

Bagru Red This dye is achieved by combining a source material such as alizarin with alum, the results ranging from pink to deep red.

Indigo Blue The internationally famous Bagru Blue is obtained from the indigo bush found throughout India.

SCREEN PRINTING

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Screen printing is a printing technique that uses a woven mesh to support an inkblocking stencil to receive a desired image. The attached stencil forms open areas of mesh that transfer ink or other printable materials which can be pressed through the mesh as a sharp-edged image onto a substrate. A fill blade or squeegee is moved across the screen stencil, forcing or pumping ink into the mesh openings for transfer by capillary action during the squeegee stroke. Basically, it is the process of using a stencil to apply ink onto a substrate, whether it be t-shirts, posters, stickers, vinyl, wood, or other material. Screen printing is also a stencil method of print making in which a design is imposed on a screen of polyester or other fine mesh, with blank areas coated with an impermeable substance. Ink is forced into the mesh openings by the fill blade or squeegee and onto the printing surface during the squeegee stroke. It is also known as silkscreen, serigraphy, and serigraph printing. One color is printed at a time, so several screens can be used to produce a multicolored image or design. Screen printing, sometimes referred to as silk screen printing or serigraphy, is a stencil printing technique used in many different industrial production processes, where thick film deposition is required. It is a low cost technology and is frequently used for printings in advertising, for printing decors on dishes or textiles, for the printing on glass in automotive industries, for decorative applications and for electronic devices. The screen printing procedure, a stencil process, comprises the printing of a viscous paste through a patterned fabric screen and is usually followed by a drying process. The method can be applied to flat or cylindrical substrates. Depending on the substrate materials and the requirements for the printed structures, a high temperature densification can also be necessary. Low temperature processes (T < 150C or UV-curing) to cure prints on organic substrates are also well established for almost all kinds of materials. Screen printing procedures in combination with high temperature processes (T > 500 C) are most commonly used to obtain abrasion resistant and chemically durable decors e.g. in house ware industry or to obtain functional prints in electronic and automotive industry. The printed objects are glass, ceramic or metal substrates. In electronic industries, the screen printing technology is used for the production of electronic devices with resolutions down to 100 m line space width. For this application, different pastes for the obtention of resistors, capacitors, conductors, isolators or solder glasses are processed in successive steps: printing, drying and firing procedures. Additionally, pastes containing metal pigments are used for the printing of conductive electronic and sensor components, e.g. in solar cells, gas sensors and solid oxide fuel cells. The densification temperature of the prints on glass substrates is usually lower than on metal or ceramic ones. Therefore, special glass frit binders with low melting points have been developed. Such pastes containing metal or color pigments are used e.g. for the printing of heating wires or decors for automotive windows and architectural glazings. Recent developments utilized the screen printing technology for the production of glass based plasma discharge panels where fine structures of fluorescent pigments, conductors and spacers have to be printed with high structure heights and high resolution.

THE SCREEN PRINTING PROCESS The screen printing process utilizes a screen as the carrier of the to-be-printed pattern. 30 | P a g e

The screen consists of the screen frame usually made of aluminum and the screen web covered with a photosensitive emulsion layer. The screen webs made of silk, nylon, polyesters or stainless steel, have usually mesh counts from 10 to 450 meshes per inch. Screens with high mesh counts and small thread diameter are suitable for the printing of fine structures. For example, a stainless steel web with 400 mesh per inch, a thread diameter of 18 m and a mesh opening of 45 m was successfully used to print sharp edged lines with 100 m width or dots of 70 m on glass substrates for electronic application. To transfer a given setting copy to the screen, the photosensitive emulsion layer on the screen is exposed to UV light through a film containing the pattern. Unexposed areas of the emulsion layer are dissolved, leaving the pattern as free spaces in the screen. The printing process is divided into two sections both shown in figures 1 and 2. In the flood stroke (figure 1), the paste is spread on the fixed screen so that the openings in the screen are filled with the paste. At this time, the screen does not get into contact with the substrate. During the print stroke (figure2), the screen contacts the substrate while the squeegee presses the paste through the screen openings and transfers it onto the substrate. Squeegees are available in different shapes, such as U- or V-shapes, different hardness and materials. Squeegees of polyurethane and hardness between 60 and 80 shore are commonly used. To obtain high quality printing results, parameters regarding the web material, the emulsion, the printing procedure and the printing paste have to be optimized. This involves the web tension and thickness, the mesh count, the emulsion thickness, the squeegee hardness, shape and pressure, the printing velocity, the accuracy of the positioning and the paste parameters.

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GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES AND POLICIES FOR CLUSTER

Government Initiatives and Policies For SMES With a contribution of 40% to the country's industrial output and 35% to direct exports, the Small-Scale Industry (SSI) sector has achieved significant milestones for the industrial development of India. Within the SSI sector, an important role is played by the numerous clusters that have been in existence for decades and sometimes even for centuries. According to a UNIDO survey of Indian SSI clusters undertaken in 1996 (later updated in 1998), there are 350 SSI clusters. Also, there are approximately 2000 rural and artisan based clusters in India. It is estimated that these clusters contribute 60% of the manufactured exports from India. The SSI clusters in India are estimated to have a significantly high share in employment generation. Some Indian SSE clusters are so big that they account for 90 per cent of India's total production output in selected products. As for example, the knitwear cluster of Ludhiana. Almost the entire Gems and Jewellery exports are from the clusters of Surat and Mumbai. Similarly, the clusters of Chennai, Agra and Kolkata are well known for leather and leather products. However, the majority of Indian clusters, especially in the handicrafts sector, are very small with no more than hundred workers, so specialised that no other place in the world matches their skills and the quality of their output. This is the case, for example, of the Paithani sarees cluster in Maharashtra. However, onlv a tiny minority of such artisan clusters are globally competitive. The formidable challenges created for the SSE sector bv the liberalisation of the Indian economy, as well as its closer integration within the global economy, have generated a great deal of interest within India on novel approaches to SSE development. As a result, both private and public sector institutions at the Central as well as the State levels are increasingly undertaking cluster development initiatives.

BDS Cluster Initiatives Business Development Services (BDS) Business Development Services (BDS) are services provided by external business experts (BDS providers) to an enterprise in various functional areas where the enterprise needs improvement, enabling the enterprise to become more competitive and grow. Business Development Services include training, consultancy and advisory services, marketing assistance, information, technology development and transfer, and business linkage promotion, etc. The major areas where BDS is provided are:

Market access 32 | P a g e

Training and technical assistance Technology and product development Input supply Financing mechanisms Infrastructure Policy advocacy

Cluster Initiatives in India There are several institutions in India that have undertaken cluster development initiatives across various clusters in the country to meet the socio-economic objectives. The major institutions involved with cluster development initiatives in India include the following:

Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) Development Commissioner (MSME) State Bank of India (SBI) National Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development (NABARD) Textiles Committee Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC) Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) National Institute for Small Industry Extension Training (NISIET) [ supported by DC(MSME) ] Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India MSME Foundation (An EDI initiative with support of UNIDO)

Micro & Small Enterprises Cluster Development Programme (MSE-CDP) Background 1 The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), Government of India (GoI) has adopted the cluster development approach as a key strategy for enhancing the productivity and competitiveness as well as capacity building of Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) and their collectives in the country. A cluster is a group of enterprises located within an identifiable and as far as practicable, contiguous area and producing same/similar products/services. The essential characteristics of enterprises in a cluster are (a) Similarity or complementarily in the methods of production, quality control and testing, energy consumption, pollution control, etc (b) Similar level of technology and marketing strategies/practices (c) Channels for communication among the members of the cluster (d) Common challenges and opportunities. 2 In October 2007, the erstwhile cluster development scheme Small Industries Cluster Development Programme (SICDP) was renamed as Micro and Small Enterprises Cluster Development Programme (MSE-CDP). It was also decided that the Integrated Infrastructural Development (IID) Scheme shall be subsumed in MSE-CDP for providing developed sites for new enterprises and upgradation of existing industrial infrastructure. A comprehensive MSE-CDP is being administered by the office of Development Commissioner (MSME), the Ministry of MSME. 33 | P a g e

3 These guidelines for the Micro and Small Enterprises - Cluster Development Programme (MSE-CDP) are issued in supersession of the previous guidelines relating to SICDP and IID schemes and encompass, inter-alia, the procedure and funding pattern for admissible activities, namely:(i) Diagnostic Study Reports: To map the business processes in the cluster and propose remedial measures, with a validated action plan. (ii) Soft Interventions: Technical assistance, capacity building, exposure visits, market development, trust building, etc for the cluster units. (iii) Detailed Project Report: To prepare a technical feasible and financially viable project report for setting up of a common facility center for cluster of MSE units and/or infrastructure development project for new industrial estate/ area or for upgradation of infrastructure in existing industrial estate/ area/ cluster. (iv)Hard Intervention/Common Facility Centers (CFCs): Creation of tangible assets like Testing Facility, Design Centre, Production Centre, Effluent Treatment Plant, Training Centre, R&D Centre, Raw Material Bank/Sales Depot, Product Display Centre, Information Centre, any other need based facility. (v) Infrastructure Development: Development of land, provision of water supply, drainage, Power distribution, non- conventional sources of Energy for common captive use, construction of roads, common facilities such as First Aid Centre, Canteen, other need based infrastructural facilities in new industrial (multi- product) areas/estates or existing industrial areas/estates/clusters. The projects sanctioned under erstwhile SICDP (renamed MSE-CDP) and Integrated Infrastructural Development (IID) schemes will also be eligible for financial support issued under the scheme as per earlier approvals. 4 Objectives of the Scheme i. To support the sustainability and growth of MSEs by addressing common issues such as improvement of technology, skills and quality, market access, access to capital, etc. ii. To build capacity of MSEs for common supportive action through formation of self help groups, consortia, upgradation of associations, etc. iii. To create/upgrade infrastructural facilities in the new/existing industrial areas/ clusters of MSEs. iv. To set up common facility centres (for testing, training centre, raw material depot, effluent treatment, complementing production processes, etc). 5 Strategy and Approach: Given the diverse nature of the MSEs in terms of both geographical location and sectoral composition, the MSE-CDP scheme aims at addressing the needs of the industries, through well defined clusters and geographical areas. This will enable achieving the economies of scale in terms of deployment of resources as well as focusing on the specific needs of similar industries. The capacity building of associations, setting up of special purpose vehicles (SPVs), consortia, etc. which are integral part of the scheme would enable the MSEs to leverage their resources and also to have better access to public resources, linkages to credit and enhance their marketing competitiveness. 6 Diagnostic Study: The first and foremost activity in the cluster development process is to conduct a diagnostic study. The objective of conducting diagnostic study in a cluster is to map all the business processes of the cluster units viz. manufacturing processes, technology, marketing, quality control, testing, purchase, outsourcing, etc to find out its strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities (SWOT), problems and impediments, suggestions and a well-drawn action plan for enhancing competitiveness of the units of the cluster and to position the cluster on a self sustaining trajectory of growth. Diagnostic Study Report (DSR) is very important document and the study should be conducted with special attention. The 34 | P a g e

Study should focus on enhanced competitiveness, technology improvement, adoption of best manufacturing practices, marketing of products, employment generation, etc. There has to be direct linkages between the problems highlighted in the report and the measures suggested for improvement. a. The DSR should preferably be prepared by the end users and other agencies should only facilitate in preparation of reports. In case the DSR is prepared by other expert agencies other than end users, these reports must be thoroughly discussed with and vetted by the end users and concerned State Government. Such agencies should have relevant expertise in cluster development. b. Specific needs of the cluster regarding IPRs, Technology Upgradation, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), energy efficiency, lean manufacturing, technology benchmarking (international/ national), market potential assessment, skill up-gradation/ certification system, design development, comparative study with other clusters, twining of clusters, need to improve safety, health, business literacy, welfare of workforce by the enterprises and their common bodies, social upliftment, etc. should be examined and included in the DSR. c. GOI grant of maximum Rs 2.50 lakh will be provided for preparation of DSR for one cluster. For the field organizations of the Ministry of MSME, this financial support will be Rs 1.00 lakh. The cost includes the expenses towards visits to cluster, compilation of data, validation of action plan, hiring of consultant, special studies (if reqd), printing & stationery, etc. 50% of the amount sanctioned will be released after the approval. Balance 50% will be released only after acceptance of report. d. DSR for one cluster should be prepared within a period of 3 months, unless extended with the approval of DC(MSME).7 Soft Interventions: Soft activities under the programme would consist of activities which lead to creation of general awareness, counseling, motivation and trust building, exposure visits, market development including exports, participation in seminars, workshops and training programmes on technology upgradation, etc. These interventions bring about general attitudinal changes necessary to initiate improvement in the existing style of working of the MSEs in the cluster. It is necessary to prepare a Diagnostic Study Report (DSR) including validated action plan, performance indicators/milestones to evaluate the project, before undertaking Soft Interventions. Activities are undertaken as per approved action plan included in DSR. a. The critical mass in a cluster for effectively realizing the demonstrative impact of soft interventions should be maximum but not less than 25 units participating in the cluster development activities. However, for difficult and backward regions and for special entrepreneurs groups having a sizeable presence of Women/SC/ ST/Minorities, the critical mass could be 20. b. Maximum limit for project cost would be Rs 25.00 lakh per cluster. Indicative details of activities are given in Annex 1. GoI grant for the soft interventions will be 75% of the sanctioned amount of the project cost. For NE & Hill States, Clusters with more than 50% (a) micro/ village (b) women owned (c) SC/ST units, the GoI grant will be 90%. The cost of project will be moderated as per size/ turnover of the cluster. c. The share of the cluster beneficiaries should be as high as possible but not less than 10 per cent of the total cost of Soft Interventions. State Government/ other stakeholders contribution will be considered as gap funding. d. Funds will be released after getting commitment from the State Government/ Implementing Agencies that required share of the cost of interventions in the cluster is contributed by the cluster actors and other institutions/stakeholders. Funds will be released in two/three installments depending upon the implementation plan, requirements of funds. e. The duration of soft interventions will be maximum 18 months, unless extended with the 35 | P a g e

approval of Steering Committee.

THE UNIDO PROGRAMME Until UNIDOs intervention there were neither truly specific government policies nor national type of initiatives aiming at promoting cluster development. The State Bank of India (SBI) and the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) have promoted initiatives defined as cluster development programmes aiming at upgrading the competitiveness of selected firms located in some clusters. The rationale of these initiatives was that by assisting geographically concentrated firms working in the same sector the impact would be maximized through demonstration effects. Nevertheless these initiatives still considered the firms as individual entities and did not try to promote collective efficiency, which should be the main purpose of a cluster intervention. In December 1995 the Department of Small Scale Industries and Agro & Rural industries (DSSI & ARI), Ministry of industry, set up an Expert Committee on Small Enterprises (also known as the Abid Hussain Committee, from the name of his chairman, former member Planning Commission). The Committee report,which was released in 1997, advocated cluster development as the approach to be followed to promote SSI. The report stated: "Focus on clusters is the centerpiece of the new approach in an increasing public private partnership in setting up support systems for small scale enterprises. Such public-private partnership would thrive particularly in clusters of small scale enterprisesThe Expert Group therefore recommends that state governments identify the existing SSI clusters and then promote new types of organisations which are joint ventures between the state governments or local authorities and business associations in these clusters. In 1996 UNIDO was requested by the DSSI, Ministry of Industry, to conduct a mapping of SSI clusters, promote pilot projects in selected clusters and assist the Ministry to formulate a national cluster development programme. With an initial contribution from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently joined by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, UNIDO prepared a four year comprehensive programme (now extended to seven years) for cluster development. The aim of the programme is to develop sustainable Indian capabilities to promote SSI networking and cluster development by: Assessing the competitiveness and organization of SSI clusters through diagnostic studies. Assisting the clusters actors (firms and their associations, support institutions, NGOs, local governments, Universities, etc.) in developing and implementing joint projects and a common strategy to improve the cluster performance. Building up through training, workshops and study tours, the capacity of cluster development agents (employees of local development agencies, SSI support institutions/associations, etc.) to promote cluster development activities. Promoting cluster benchmarking at the national and international level. Networking with local and national SSI support institutions and association to ensure their support in the implementation of the clusters action plans. Providing policy advice on SSI cluster development, including advice on reorienting the services of SSI supportive Institutions/Associations towards cluster needs. Assisting the Indian Government in organizing and implementing a sustainable national cluster programme. Documenting and disseminating the methodological experiences and gains made at the cluster and national levels during the course of the programme. Data on more than 100 clusters have been analyzed by UNIDO to prepare a first mapping of 36 | P a g e

Indian clusters in order to appraise their geographical spread, sectoral distribution and relevance to the economy. Moreover detailed diagnostic studies were conducted in ten clusters, namely Tirupur (cotton knitwear), Pune (food-processing), Jaipur (textile-printing), Ludhiana (knitwear), Phagwara (diesel engines), Surat (diamonds), Calcutta (fans), Chennai (leather), Noida (electronics) and Batala (machine tools). The objective of the diagnostic studies was to assess the structure of a sample of SSI clusters in India, identify issues related to their development, and draw lessons on how to develop pilot initiatives together with local firms that would deepen their mutual linkages and improve their performance. Thus, unlike previous approaches, neither the ministry of industry nor UNIDO would decide what services to provide or what initiatives to undertake; but rather the main cluster actors would do so in collaboration with UNIDO and public agencies,based on a joint understanding of local conditions and sectoral prospects. A team of Indian consultants, who later became the UNIDO Focal Point of the programme, conducted these studies through interviews with local firms,producers associations, public sector agencies and research institutions. They mapped out existing business practices, interfirm relationships and the structure of production in each selected cluster. Their study identified the nature and role of institutional support and market linkages available to SSI in each cluster. It also outlined the main issues raised by firms regarding the problems and opportunities they faced in their particular sector ( Tewari, 1997). Jaipur, Pune, Ludhiana and Tirupur, were jointly selected by the Ministry of industry and UNIDO for pilot initiatives. The UNIDO Focal Point is currently based in New Delhi and includes four economists and two support staffs. This small group is responsible for interacting with each cluster, assist the local actors in preparing and implementing their action plans, creating awareness about the importance of building local ties among firms, linking them with relevant institutions at the regional, national and international level, monitoring local initiatives, and encouraging exchange of experiences among different clusters.

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Cluster Development Programme (MSE-CDP) Introduction The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), Government of India (GoI) has adopted the cluster development approach as a key strategy for enhancing the productivity and competitiveness as well as capacity building of Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) and their collectives in the country. Clustering of units also enables providers of various services to them, including banks and credit agencies, to provide their services more economically, thus reducing costs and improving the availability of services for these enterprises. Objective of the Scheme : i. ii. iii. iv. To support the sustainability and growth of MSEs by addressing common issues such as improvement of technology, skills and quality, market access, access to capital, etc. To build capacity of MSEs for common supportive action through formation of self help groups, consortia, upgradation of associations, etc. To create/upgrade infrastructural facilities in the new/existing industrial areas/ clusters of MSEs. To set up common facility centres (for testing, training centre, raw material depot, effluent treatment, complementing production processes, etc).

Scope of the scheme: i. Diagnostic Study ii. Resourcing of Technology iii. Facilitating the transfer of technology from producer to end user iv. Setting up of Common Facility Centres(CFCs) v. R & D needs vi. Organising workshops, Seminars, Training and Study visits for quicker diffusion of technology across the cluster of small enterprises. Infrastructure Development for facilities like power distribution network, water, telecommunication, drainage and pollution control facilities, roads, banks, raw materials, storage and marketing outlets, common service facilities and technological backup services for MSEs in the new/ existing industrial estates/areas.

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Activity-wise Implementing Agencies: Activity Diagnostic study Soft Interventions Setting up of CFC Infrastructure Development projects Implementing Agency Offices of the Ministry of MSME Offices of State Governments National and international institutions engaged in development of the MSE sector Any other institution/agency approved by the Ministry of MSME projects State/UT Governments through an appropriate state government agency with a good track record in implementing such projects.

Cost of Project and Govt of India Assistance:

i. ii.

iii.

Diagnostic Study - Maximum cost Rs. 2.50 lakhs. Soft interventions - Maximum cost of project Rs. 25.00 lakh, with GoI contribution of 75% (90% for Special Category States and for clusters with more than 50% women/micro/village/SC/ST units). Hard interventions i.e setting up of CFCs maximum eligible project cost of Rs. 15.00 crore with GoI contribution of 70% (90% for Special Category States and for clusters with more than 50% women/micro/village/SC/ST units).

Infrastructure Development in the new/ existing industrial estates/areas. Maximum eligible project cost Rs.10.00 crore, with GoI contribution of 60% (80% for Special Category States and for clusters with more than 50% women/micro/SC/ST units)

How to approach: Proposals for consideration under MSE-CDP can be sent through State Govts or their autonomous bodies or field institutes of Ministry of MSME ie. MSME-DIs. The proposals are approved by the Steering Committee of the MSE-CDP

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CRAFT CLUSTER UNDER STUDY SERAMPORE (HOOGHLY DISTRICT)

Hooghly is one of the major districts in West Bengal and ranks 5th in terms of population. With a population of 50,41976 in 2001, the district contributes more than 6 per cent of total population of the State (projected population would be around 54,89534 in 2008). About 66 per cent of the people live in rural areas. The percentage of population who are Hindu, Muslim, Christian and others are respectively 83.63, 15.14, 0.09 and 1.08 which yr. in 2001. Further, 23.6 per cent of total population belongs to the SC category and 4.2 per cent under ST category. It is to be noted that minorities, SC and ST population together constitutearound 43 per cent of total population. The density of population (1601 per sq. Km) is much higher than theWest Bengal average of 904 per sq. km. In terms of density of population, district ranks 4th, next to Kolkata and Howrah and North 24 Parganas

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Brief Industrial Profile of Hooghly District (WEST BENGAL) General Characteristics of the District The district lies on the bank of the Hooghly river and about 15 kms away from Kolkata. The people here are engaged in both agricultural and industrial activities. At present, multinational companies are showing interest in setting up of industries in the district. Thus, industry is growing fast in the district. Location & Geographical Area The district has a geographical area of 31.49 sq. kms. The district is surrounded by Nadia in the east, Burdwan in the north, Bankura in the west and Paschiim Midnapore in the south.

Topography The district is divided into three soil groups viz. (1) Gangetic Alluvium, (2) Alluvium deposit in Damodar and Dwarkeshwar Valley and (3) Red Soil Region. The Hooghly, the Dwarkeshwar, the Damodar and the Rupnarayan are the main rivers of the district. Availability of Minerals. MAJOR NAD MINOR MINERALS NIL FOREST Tropical forests are found in the district. Total recorded forest land in the state is 11,879 sq.km., of which 7,054 sq.km. is Reserved Forest, 3,772 sq.km. is Protected Forest and 1,053 sq.km. is Unclassed State Forest, thus constituting 13.38% of the geographical area of the state.

SOCIO-CULTURAL SURVEY OF SERAMPORES HISTORICAL TOWN CENTRE 1. Introduction This sociocultural research project has been carried out in relation to the restoration of significant historical buildings that form part of the common Indo-Danish cultural heritage in Serampore. The objective has been to examine and document the present situation and challenges of Serampore and its citizens, and to explore local use of urban space in Serampore. Moreover, the survey has included in-depth studies of local visions, needs and wishes, in relation to urban development in the historic town centre. The research team consisted of one local social researcher, functioning as the team leader, one other local research assistant and one Danish research assistant.

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General considerations about living conditions in Serampores town centre A number of issues regarding the overall living conditions in Serampore are raised by the respondents as follows:

Almost all remark upon the decrease of greenery and open spaces in their areas. It is a lot more congested than it was 20 or 30 years ago; some of this is due to the great increase in population. Some feel that their area is more polluted than before and others that it is the other way round. Regarding the roads, it all depends on which area you ask in, but overall the roads are in a satisfactory condition, except by the South Gate to the Court Compound, where the road is in a really bad state.

A considerable number mention the need for recreational areas, particularly playgrounds for the children. Many draw a direct line between the lack of playgrounds and social activities for children, caused by the closing of St. Olavs Church and changed circum stances at the Court Compound, and children falling into addiction, crime or other immoral behaviour.

There is a large number of clubs in Serampore, but the number of clubs in the different neighbourhoods varies. There can be from 0 to 16 clubs per neighbourhood1. A great number of respondents remark on the difficult living conditions due to a high price rise on everyday commodities not matched by a similar rise in income. They additionally mention a problem with high youth unemployment. The conclusions drawn here are based on the respondents opinions about their amenities in their immediate surroundings or neighborhoods.

Water, sewages, toilets and garbage Generally, the clearing of household garbage and cleaning of sewages is satisfying, but some have to clean the sewages themselves because it is not done regularly by the municipality workers. Particularly around K.M. Bhattacharyya Street (See map) there seems to be a problem with both garbage and the drains. Most have sufficient access to water, from mainly outside taps or pumps, although a few have to queue up because too many people share a water tap. 42 | P a g e

All the respondents have access to toilets, but in some neighbourhoods they have to share with many families. One example is 5 bathrooms for around 300 people.

Maintenance and guarding Time and again the importance of not only maintenance but also guarding of buildings, parks, playgrounds etc. is stressed by the respondents. If buildings are restored and parks and playgrounds constructed they must be maintained and also guarded by people employed specifically to carry out these jobs, or all the effort will be in vain. Buildings will become dilapidated and playgrounds ruined. Also, trees and flowers must be watered and looked after. Heritage Buildings and the History of Serampore Overall, the interviewees have limited knowledge of Serampores history and many think that buildings such as the Government House and St. Olavs Church were built by the British. But a few are aware of the towns Danish era and the buildings originating from that time. The great majority believe it to be vital that these buildings are restored and preserved for future generations as they make out an essential part of Serampores history and urban environment. Many state that they think their own government should be responsible for the preservation of heritage buildings, but seeing that this is not really happening welcome foreign organizations willing to do the work. A few, though, are hesitant about inviting foreign powers to do the work, stressing that India is a liberated country and should stay that way. The plan to turn the old Danish Government House into a museum is appreciated by most and seen as a good way to pass on historical knowledge to the children.

The Riverside The riverside is one other public free space in Serampore widely used for recreation, religious rituals and bathing: It is used for morning and evening walks and for getting some fresh air. The sitting area by Nisan Ghat is used for time passing with friends. The Hindu community uses the Ganges river for morning baths, as well as collection of Ganges soil and water for ritual purposes.

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Many respondents who have to share water taps/pumps in their crowded neighbourhoods use the riverside every morning for bathing. In the evening it becomes a lovers point for young couples. At night it is also occupied by youth that are drinking and using other intoxicants, making it a less attractive area for others to use. Concerning the riverside, there is a general opinion that it could and should be developed, and a number of improvements are suggested: Cleaning up the riverside as well as the river. Enriching the area with parks, flowers and trees. Construction of a childrens playground. Putting up benches. Repairing the Ghats as they constitute a danger for particularly children and elderly people using them. A few of the interviewees also remark on the lack of a suitable place for women to bathe, or to change clothes after having bathed. Several of the respondents are of the opinion that if the area is made more inviting and beautiful it could attract more tourists. Moreover, it is thought that this would result in employment opportunities for some of the local unemployed youth, who could sell tea and local craftworks from vendor stalls.

The riverbanks of Chunchura and Chandannagar are repeatedly mentioned as examples to follow, since they are more beautifully constructed and maintained. Administrative Information The district Hooghly with its Headquarters located at Chinsurah town is within the Burdwan Division of the State of West Bengal. There are 4 sub-divisions, 18 blocks, 12 municipalities, one corporation in Hooghly district. Among the 12 municipalities, Dankuni Municipality is created only on 14th January,2008, under West Bengal Municipal Act, 1993. Total geographical area of the district is 3149 Sq. Km.

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State Governments Initiatives for the Sector The State has a Directorate of Textiles, which is implementing a number of developmental and welfare schemes of the State and Central Government. The State also has a Textiles Policy 2007-2012 to fulfill the twin objectives of (i) taking the sectoral contribution to the State GDP to 10% and (ii) creating additional direct and indirect sustainable employment of 1 million people by the year 2012.

Advantages in West Bengal Substantial producer of chemicals, local dyes Availability of power Availability of cheap labour Large pool of workers traditionally trained in jute cultivation Easy export facility due to presence of port and airport Huge market, not only in India but different parts of the world especially Bangladesh and South East Asia due to trade agreements with these countries/regions

Challenges and Current Issues for Textiles Industry in West Bengal 45 | P a g e

Technological backwardness of units Sub-optimal and low volumes of operations Disconnect with large emerging markets within and outside the country Low labour productivity Archaic labour laws Limited raw material and intermediate product base within the State (like cotton, yarn etc) Lack of training and skill development institutes

Vision for the States Textiles Industry There is a need for an ambitious long term textiles policy for West Bengal. Currently, the State has Textiles Policy 2007-12 which is not adequate for realizing true potential of textiles in the State. In terms of size, as per Annual Survey of Industries, the total production size of textiles industry in West Bengal is around $2.9 billion which is 5.24% of total size of Indian textiles industrys output in 2009-10. Looking at other States, Tamil Nadu is leading with 21.5% share, Maharashtra with 12.7% and Gujarat with 12.5% share. Way Forward for Textiles Industry in West Bengal Given the fact that the State is already lagging behind other States in textiles and also States like Maharashtra, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu have recently announced new policy and major incentives for the textiles sector in their State, West Bengal government would have to come out with a really attractive package in addition to what is already being provided by Central Government for this sector to get investments. Since this sector is one of the largest employers after agriculture, developing this sector in the State would be in the overall interest and balanced economic development of the State. With India having free trade agreements with Bangladesh and ASEAN countries, West Bengal is strategically located also to become a leading exporting state in certain textiles segments. The State governments incentive and policies have to be more than that provided by the Centre and also by other leading States. FICCI suggests a twenty point agenda namely West Bengals Textiles Policy- 2022 for the consideration of the State government. 46 | P a g e

Following measures are suggested for strengthening and reviving textiles sector base in West Bengal: 1. Competitive cost of power and uninterrupted supply of power is critical for textiles and garment industry. Cost of power is a crucial factor for increasing cost competitiveness of industry. It is estimated (2011 - ICRA Report for CITI) that in a Knitwear cluster in West Bengal power tariff for industrial consumers was around Rs 5 per Kwh (reportedly the tariffs since then have increased to Rs 7 per unit). If one compares it with Bangladesh, the cost of power will not be more than Rs 2 or 3 in that country. Hence, our competing countries enjoy significant cost advantage in power tariff. In order to compensate the industry for this high cost, various States have given subsidy on power in their textiles policy. For instance, Gujarat governments Textiles Policy 2012 provides power tariff subsidy @ Rs 1 per unit for cotton spinning and weaving industries. However, given the fact that West Bengal does not have a strong base in many segments of textiles the State could provide subsidy of Rs 1.5 per Kwh to encourage investments in textiles. The units which purchase electricity from the state electricity/power distribution licensee will be eligible for this benefit. The units which want to set up captive power plants will be given assured supply of fuel/ coal linkages for the period of seven years. The State shall also ensure gas linkages for the generation of captive power in the State. The State government will also ensure faster clearances for the power plant like environment, land etc. so as to ensure timely financial closure of the project. Any excess power in captive plant could be supplied to Grid as per the norms fixed by State Electricity Regulatory Commission. In case fuel linkage is not provided then captive generation could also be considered for support on case to case basis. 2. Land availability- Following steps need to be taken up for providing land to the industry: To encourage setting up of large textile units and parks, the State Government should relax the provision which prevents industry from holding maximum 24 acres of land. Currently, the Southern part of the State is more developed than other parts. In order to ensure balanced development, the State government would reimburse 25% of the 47 | P a g e

cost of land including acquisition charges if the industry unit is set-up in designated zones earmarked for balanced growth or additional 10% capital subsidy than that given under TUFS and proposed Credit Linked Capital Subsidy under this policy. To reduce the transaction cost, 50% reimbursement with respect to Stamp Duty for execution of lease, sale deeds, lease-cum-sale deeds in case of industrial land and plots allotted or industrial sheds taken on lease. Also, the State will provide Stamp duty reimbursement to the extent of 50% on loan and credit deeds executed for taking long term loans from financial institutions. This support is again for designated zones mentioned in point above. State Government should allocate land for setting up of the textiles zone/park in the State wherever a group of more than ten industry units wants to set-up Greenfield textile park. 3. Common Infrastructure for Greenfield Clusters- the State would pursue Cluster based strategy for textiles and garment industry. The State Government will provide additional support to the textiles park under Centres SITP scheme for external infrastructure like roads, ports, power, water supply etc and also for common amenities like testing labs, warehousing facility, dormitories etc. The support in this regard would be Rupees 15 crore for each cluster/ park in addition to Centres support. If the park is sit uated in designated zones for balanced growth then the amount of support would be Rs 25 crore in addition to Centres support. In particular, CITIs study found out that West Bengal has the potential to develop a leading knitwear cluster. The State enjoys availability of power, water and labour and the study estimates that cost disadvantage in West Bengal vis--vis Tirupur is less if one compares a knitwear cluster in Bangladesh. West Bengal was once a knitwear and hosiery centre originally and then many companies migrated to Tamil Nadu because of labour issues and strikes. However, now the knitwear industry in Tamil Nadu is looking for relocation because of problems related to pollution, labour and power. This offers an opportunity to West Bengal to regain investments in knitwear sector and place itself on the global knitwear map alongside neighbouring Bangladesh.

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The State can also look at developing product or sector specific parks with huge potential. These could be in the following areas: Garment, Hosiery Weaving & Processing Technical Textiles Knitwear,

The assistance for the same may be higher than the general assistance mentioned above. This would be on case to case basis depending on projects potential in terms of employment, output, exports etc. 4. Skill Development- Efforts of private sector companies/institutions, directly or through their non-profit arms, on skill upgradation, will be scaled-up with appropriate incentives and infrastructural support, through a mix of viability gap funding and direct assistance by State Government. The State Government will facilitate Viability Gap Funding from the Centre for setting up of these ITIs/Polytechnics etc on PPP basis for covering the capital cost as per the VGF guidelines of the Ministry of Finance. In addition, the State will also provide its share of viability gap funding (which is another 20%) for such institutes. Since the Centre already provides 150% weighted deduction on skill development expenses this should make skill development attractive in the State for the industry on PPP basis. State Government will also explore opportunities for tie-up with organizations like ATDC, ILFS for the same. Further, in order to strengthen the existing training institutes in the State which are in existence for the last five years at least and are conducting academic programmes in textile education offering certificates, diploma, and degrees they shall be provided technical assistance of Rupees three crore each under the policy provided they scale-up their capacities and upgrade courses in partnership with industry and as per industry requirements of the day. This assistance will not be for land or building but for other capital expenditure on machinery, tools, teaching aids, content development etc.

Training Centres to encourage workers in the unorganized handloom and decentralized powerloom or silk sector to upgrade their skills for modernized spinning, hosiery and garment units shall be provided support. Training Centres which come forward to upgrade 49 | P a g e

their facilities for this purpose would be provided financial assistance of Rupees 30 lakhs per centre along with partial reimbursement of stipend by the State government. State Government can also launch industry specific (e.g. garment, hosiery, jute etc.) skill development program involving third party for both training new workers and improving skill level of existing workers. Payment to third parties may be restricted with a upper cap of Rs. 12000 per trainee. Govt. of West Bengal may contribute 25% of the fund requirement and balance 75% may be taken from existing central Govt. schemes. The above support measures will be 100% for designated zones and could be 50% in other zones of the State. 5. As mentioned earlier, the State is a net importer of many raw materials and intermediate products for textiles value chain. In order to ensure price competitive supply of such products to the State, the State government should provide the following: Exemption from entry tax on plant and machinery and capital goods including equipmentsfor captive power generation and for waste disposal facilities.

Exemption from Entry Tax on procurement of fibres and yarns in the State for sale of fabrics in India and abroad. This will help the industry to create weaving capacities in the State and thereby increasing employment also.

CST refund to units on purchase of intermediate or raw material product in textiles value chain upto garment stage. This concession will be available for five years from the date of commencement of operations or till the time GST is implemented. If GST is implemented in between then an alternate scheme will be introduced in consultation with stakeholders. 6. Scheme for Energy Conservation, Water Conservation and Environmental Compliance to existing units (more than 2 years old)- Annual assistance up to 50%, Max Rs. 75,000 for Energy Audit/Water Audit Environmental Compliance which will be applicable in each case separately. Annual assistance up to 20% of cost of equipments, Max Rs. 20 lakhs 50 | P a g e

which will be applicable in each case separately.

7. Common Effluent Treatment Plant- The State government will provide 50% of the project cost or Rs 5 crore whichever is less for setting up a CETP in new or existing textile parks/clusters. The operating cost of running the CETP to be borne by units. 8. Funding support for Standards and compliance: In order to ensure that textiles industry in the State meets minimum expectations of global buyers, the funding support shall be provided to an individual unit to the extent of 50% of the cost or Rs 2 lakhs whichever is less for obtaining certification/accreditation under recognized and globally accepted international standards like ISO-9000, ISO-140000, 1SO-18000, Social Accountability Standards, OEKO-TEX etc. 9. Credit Linked Capital Subsidy- This support would be in addition to the support given for technology upgradation scheme of the Centre. The State government shall give the following in addition to TUFS for modernization, establishment of new units and expansion of existing units (if expansion is more than 25%): 5% capital subsidy or maximum of Rupees 1 crores whichever is less and 6% interest subsidy The support under this scheme need not be tied to utilization of TUFS scheme by the unit.

10. Support for Market Development, Branding and Design- This would be meant for a group marketing scheme for handlooms. Reimbursement of 25% of project cost or Rs 25 lakhs whichever is less annually. 11. The State government will also come out with a separate package for handloom sector which would include the following: Working capital loan at very low rates Ensuring raw material availability at cheaper rates for handloom Free power supply up to specified monthly limits for handloom Scheme for housing, health insurance and other welfare schemes in the State with the help of the concerned State Departments and dovetailing these with the schemes being implemented by Centre 51 | P a g e

12. The State government shall ensure faster clearances for textile units in textile parks and designated clusters in terms of excise, custom, environment, Factories Act etc. and a single window mechanism for granting permissions for textiles sector.

13. The State Government shall also try to set-up R&D Centre for textiles in collaboration with the industry and international institute to encourage state of the art research in textiles. 14. The State will also consider providing freight subsidy to units located in far away designated backward regions for supplies meant for exports. 15. The State government shall also strengthen its textiles department to look into the implementation of this policy and other issues. 16. The State would also organize with FICCI and other industry bodies road shows in India and abroad to attract investments in textiles sector.

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CHAPTER 10 CASE STUDY SERAMPORE CLUSTER CLUSTER UNIT 1 CHANDI MATA ENTERPRISE OWNER: Mr. KHOKAN SHAH ESTABLISHED: OVER 35 YEARS AGO

HISTORY: The enterprise was started by Mr. KHOKAN SAHA about 35 years ago with an investment of Rs. 300 only. With the help of only 2-3 labourers.

FOCUS: The enterprise used to make 300 units/day in the start. Target market: it was the wholesalers of Burrabazar. The orders made for them were not quality driven or customized. Overtime Mr. Shah felt the need to be more quality-focused Then he shifted the entire philosophy of the unit to QUALITY-FOCUS. Presently, they make 100-200 units /day There was no loss incurred to overcome the loss of almost 100 units as now the target market was also changed. TARGET MARKET (present) : BOUTIQUES.

REASON FOR SHIFT: The boutique orders are more detailed and specific. More quality-driven. So they can charge a premium for that.

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BUSINESS FRAMEWORK

STEP 1 STEP 2

Boutique owners come and give the order details with the design Accordingly, the blocks are purchsed.

The raw materials are sourced from various vendors depending upon STEP3 the price charged. STEP 4 STEP 4 The printing is done according to the details given by the buyer After the product is made, it is packed and sent to the respective buyer

PROCESS FRAMEWORK:

STEP 1

The printing is done manually in the unit by the workers

STEP 2

Two workers work on a single piece of merchandise from start to finsh

After the printing, the fabric is wrapped in a cloth and sent for STEP 3 steaming

The steaming is done for increasing the 'glaze' of the design. STEP 4 The process takes 5 hours to complete
When the steaming is done, the fabric is washed and pressed.

STEP 5

STEP 6

The merchandise is finished and packed in plastic bag and sent.

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DETAILS: DAILY PRODUCTION 100 UNITS

NO. OF WORERS

50(rotating) 25/PIECE

WAGES FOR PRINTING)

THE

WORKERS(

WAGES FOR THE WORKERS 4000/MONTH (STEAMING ,WRAPPING) DURGAPUR HAND PRINTING SUB-UNITS OF THE ENTERPRISE MEDNAPORE- BATIK PROFIT MARGIN TARGET MARKETS COMPETITORS WORKING HOURS 10-12% CHENNAI,KOLKATA,TRIPURA,DELHI KANISHKA ,P. GOPAL 8 AM 7 PM

WORKING DAYS

MONDAY- SATURDAY (SUNDAY WORKING DEAMND-PUJA TIME) 11

IN

SEASONAL

NO OF PRINTING TABLES

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DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Types of printing: Direct printing Discharge printing Pigment printing

Raw materials: Cotton silk-tusser, pasmina, malda Safety stock- 400 piece

Cost:Block-Rs 200 Electricity bill-10000 Marketer The owner and proprietor, and their clients spread word of mouth. Promotion of products is done by City VN channel. Communication with vendors, clients etc done through phone or mail. Consumers Many, as it is also sent to Mumbai, Delhi, etc. Financial schemes No loan taken from government as that becomes a liability to be paid. Design inputs Designers from boutiques, dealers or the printing staff themselves. Workers A pair of labor finishes 15-16 pieces daily. The problems faced by the labor is, bleeding, which is corrected by adding the chemicals during wash of the garments. Auditing done by external party for:-Pollution, Provision of ESI for labor

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SWOT ANALYSIS: STRENGTH Investment on owners equity No capital needed from outside WEAKNESS no compliance followed non- utilization of the schemes of loans offered no proper pollution control measures THREATS Lack of skilled labour in the new generation Strong competitor- KANISHKA

OPPORTUNITIES Availability of government schemes Organized apparel parks

RESPONSIBILTY MAPPING OWNER WORKERS SUPERVISION PRINTING MANAGEMNET According to MARKETING the design SOURCING STEAMING ORDER IRONING PROCUREMNET PACKING HANDLING THE FINANCE

ROLES

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FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS:

Function 1: sourcing Competencies proper Skills needed contacts knowledge capital needed

Function 2: printing Skilled labour Availability of chemicals Tools Technical knowledge

Function 3: management Time Patience, skill to manage people Motivate people

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Unit II

SREEMA ENTERPRISES

OWNER: DEBABRATA ESTABLISHED: 1984 by the owners father OBJECTIVE: TO STUDY THE MANAGEMENT OF SME WITH REFERENCE TO A PRINTING UNIT

FOCUS: The focus is on economies of scale. Main focus is on the domestic market JOB-WORK

PRODUCTION: 100% domestic oriented production

COST:

Raw material charges Printing charges :Screen plate 450 for pallu, 300 for saree 1 kg gum-Rs 380 can be used for ten sarees Payment to screen printer Payment to 8 workers Colour 4 colours used

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DETAILS Daily Production 100Pc

No. Of Workers

8 Depending On The Design Variability: 100/Pc

Wages For The Workers( Printing)

Raw materials Markets

Difficult to procure Burrabazar, not good, difficult to survive

Profit Margin Buyers Competitors Working Hours

In loss Tantuja,bada bazaar

7am -6 Pm

Working Days No Of Printing Tables Turnover

Monday-Saturday 2

Compliance:

No proper pollution control measures are taken Wastage is sent to the drainage Doesnt have a pollution certificate No provident fund scheme for the workers

The raw materials are sourced from various sources depending upon the price and availability. For eg. = silk from malda, cotton 60 | P a g e

SWOT ANALYSIS:

STRENGTH Independent Design developed in-house

WEAKNESS no compliance followed no exports no proper pollution control measures absenteeism of workers deal with wholesalers only. THREATS Competition Lack of skilled labour in the new generation Increase in price of raw materials

OPPORTUNITIES work for boutique take loans from gov

RESPONSIBILITY MAPPING: OWNER WORKERS Supervision PrintingAccording To Management The Design Marketing Finishing Sourcing Steaming Order Procurement Ironing Handling The Finance

ROLES

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FUNCTIONS Order procurement C O M P E E T E N C Y Maintaining good relations by giving deliveries on time. Screen printing Office Client manageme management nt Time Negotiati management on Technical knowledg e Channel management Good rapport with channel members Knowledge of the pros and cons of various channels.

Preparing screensdone by Patience outside Leadership party. skillsto delegate job to Proper color workers, Mixing execute on time and Technical motivate them. knowledge of fabric, dyes, and chemicals used.

Skilled labor for printing Washing finishing

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Unit III

ASHIRBAD PRINTS

OWNER: Mr. Debdulal Mazumdar ESTABLISHED: 50 years ago by proprietors father OBJECTIVE: TO STUDY THE MANAGEMENT OF SME WITH REFERENCE TO A PRINTING UNIT

HISTORY: It was established by Mr. It was registered by the name H.N. Print After his fathers demise, the name was changed to ASHIRBAD PRINTS

FOCUS: The focus is on economies of scale. Main focus is on the domestic market JOB-WORK

PRODUCTION: In the ratio 80:20 ratio = 80 (domestic), 20 (export).

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DETAILS Daily Production 200-300 /Pc

No. Of Workers

9 Depending On The 80/Pc,100/Pc,150/Pc Design Variability:

Wages For The Workers( Printing)

Yearly Production Markets

10,000 pc Burrabazar, Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi

Profit Margin Buyers

10-20% P. Gopal Aparna Sarees Takes Every Printing Unit As A Competitor 8am -6 Pm

Competitors Working Hours

Working Days No Of Printing Tables Turnover Exporters

Monday-Saturday 7- Screen 4- Block 30-40 Lakhs M M EXPORTS EASTERN SILK JANIT EXPORTS

Export Markets

AMERICA, CANADA, NETHERLANDS

ITALY,

Export Products

DRESS MATERIAL, SCARVES, SHAWLS, STOLES

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Reasons for Domestic /Export Production Ratio:

EXPORT Costlier More standards to adhere to

DOMESTIC Less standards to maintain More economical with less capital

COST: ( for a 6.5 m saree) Raw material Rs. 1200 Printing charges 450-500 Profit 10-15% Screen 400/saree Block 550/saree

Compliance:

No proper pollution control measures are taken Wastage is sent to the drainage Doesnt have a pollution certificate No provident fund scheme for the workers

NOTE: There was a raid by the PF department in the unit in the recent times.

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Business Framework:

STEP 1:

The buyers comes gives order of a particular amount. Raw-material is sourced accordingly. The product is made according to the order in the specified quantity and design. the product is made in-house. the product is finished and packed. The product is sent by the owner himself by companies like P. PETAL , PETAL ANGARIA.

STEP 2:

STEP 3:

The raw materials are sourced from various sources depending upon the price and availability. For eg. = Crape silk is bought at Rs. 400/m from CHINA. Part-shipment is also done in case of higher quantity of order.

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PROCESS FRAMEWORK:

STEP 1:

the printing is done manually.

STEP 2:

The designs are sometimes made by the owner with the help of COREL DRAW, ADOBE PHOTOSHOP. The enterprise also has an in-house designer. The product is washed,steamed and ironed in the unit. Properly packed and sent

STEP 3:

DEGUMMING OF SILK Silk (yellow) 120 centigrade NaOH/Soap Degummed Silk

After treatment process of printing:There are two types of process in the Ashirbad printing house. 1) Open bath system 2) Closed bath system The Ashirbad printing house follows open bath system

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OPEN BATH SYSTEM

50 sarees taken into an open vessel

Steaming (2 to 3 hrs.)

Cold wash

Hot wash

Cold wash

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SWOT ANALYSIS:

STRENGTH WEAKNESS Own design capability of the owner no compliance followed and the in-house designer. less ratio of exports Independent non- utilization of the schemes of loans offered Reliable buyers and exporters no proper pollution control measures Has its own ASHIRBAD OPPORTUNITIES brand name THREATS Competition Lack of skilled labour in the new generation

opening a retail store tapping the export market more Producing more in the name of its brand name to gain recognition

RESPONSIBILITY MAPPING: OWNER WORKERS Supervision PrintingAccording To Management The Design Marketing Finishing Sourcing Steaming Order Procurement Ironing Handling The Finance

ROLES

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FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS: OBJECTIVE: To print sarees and dress materials Function 1: sourcing Competencies proper Skills needed contacts knowledge capital needed Function 2: printing Skilled labour Availability of chemicals Tools Technical knowledge Function 3: management Time Patience, skill to manage people Motivate people

RELATIONS: With fair-trade for the last 20 years With Tripura government, works for them too.

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Ashirbad

ITEM FABRIC Raw materials

RATE(RS) Silk Saree(6.5 185 per mtr mtr) 300/screen plate 600 /kg 120 50 35 30 75 /labour 150 45

COST(Rs)

1200 30

B 1 2 3 4 5 6 C D E

Screen plate Dyeing Degumming Steaming Electricity charges Labour Wages Washing Printing charges Total cost Profit @ 15% ITEM FABRIC Raw materials B 1 2 3 4 5 6 C D E Block Dyeing Degumming Steaming Electricity charges Labour Wages Washing Printing charges Total cost Profit @ 15% (A+B+C) Silk Saree(6.5 mtr) (A+B+C)

430 1660 1909 COST(Rs)

249 RATE(RS)

185 per mtr

1200 200

600 /kg

120 50 35 30 220 45 500 1900 2185

110 /labour

285

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UNIT-IV PRINTEX

OWNER: Shambhu rai (59) ESTABLISHED: 1984 OBJECTIVE: TO STUDY THE MANAGEMENT OF SME WITH REFERENCE TO A PRINTING UNIT

SUPERVISOR: S.Mukherjee

FOCUS: The focus is on EXPORT MARKET JOB-WORK

PRODUCTION: 100% export oriented unit for scarves, stoles and dress material. COST estimation: Raw material provided Printing charges :1-3 colours- rs. 60/m 3-8 colours-Rs. 100/m 10-12 colours-Rs 125-150/m Profit 15-20% Chemical- 1200-1400/kg

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DETAILS Daily Production 150-200 15 No. Of Workers The wages are fixed i.e. Rs 250 for a day. Supervisor-Rs 6000 Colorist- Rs 3000

Wages For The Workers( Printing)

Yearly Production Markets

April-march, More than 1 lakh International including Japan,USA,Germany 15-20% Not known no countries like

Profit Margin Buyers Competitors

8.45 am to 6.00 pm. Working Hours Working Days No Of Printing Tables Monday-Saturday 4, Three tables are present in the downfloor which is of 45 1 table is present upstairs which is of 54(??) Turnover Exporters Janith, Himalaya, Fashionista

Export Markets Export Products

Japan,USA,Germany,Jeddah DRESS MATERIAL, SCARVES, , STOLES

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Reasons for Domestic /Export Production Ratio:

EXPORT 1. The profit that they incur is that of 1520% 2. Much demand

DOMESTIC 3. They incur a loss due to the payment 4. They get Rs 15-20 for 1 metre 5. They have to incur much cost on the product as the exporters are very particular about the colur and they are looking for the azo-free colours.

Compliance:

No proper pollution control measures are taken Wastage is sent to the drainage Doesnt have a pollution certificate No provident fund scheme for the workers The water treatment plant helps in control.

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Business Framework:

STEP 1:

the buyer chooses the design and gives the order to exporter The exporter gives the job work to the unit Raw-material along with the design is provided

STEP 2:

The sample is printed according to the order specification . After sample approval by the exporter the production is started inhouse.

STEP 3:

the product is finished and packed outside The product is dispatched by the company's personnel or the exporter's personnel as mutually decided.

The raw materials are already provided by the exporters. For Wool, silk fabrics-acid colours are used. Viscose fabric- Acid dye Cotton, Linen - Direct dye. Linen - silicate colour. The colours standards are present are according to the Neelam Pvt.Ltd

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PROCESS FRAMEWORK:

STEP 1:

Screen printing is done manually.

STEP 2:

Design is provided along with the raw material.

STEP 3:

The product is washed,steamed and ironed in the unit. Finally sent to exporter

SWOT ANALYSIS:

STRENGTH Independent Reliable exporters Has its own brand name -

WEAKNESS non- utilization of the schemes of loans offered no proper pollution control measures No testing laboratory. THREATS Competition Lack of skilled labour in the new generation

OPPORTUNITIES opening a retail store tapping the export market more Producing more in the name of its brand name to gain recognition

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RESPONSIBILITY MAPPING: OWNER & supervisor WORKERS Supervision PrintingAccording To Management The Design Order Procurement Finishing Handling The Steaming Finance Ironing

ROLES

FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS: OBJECTIVE: To print scarves, stoles and dress materials FUNCTIONS Order procurement C O M P E E T E N C Y Maintaining good relations by giving deliveries on time Knowledge of latest fashion. Screen printing Office manageme nt Time managemen t Client management Negotiation Technical knowledge Channel management Good rapport with channel members Knowledg e of the pros and cons of various channels.

Preparing screens

Proper color Patience Mixing Leadership skills Technical knowledge

Skilled labor for printing Washing finishing

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SWOT ANALYSIS OF THE CLUSTER

STRENGTH WEAKNESS Availability of free of cost water with the right amount of content needed no trade license for printing non- utilization of the schemes of Skill and competencies of the loans offered workers no proper pollution control measures Strong presence in the export market in-availability of raw materials (fabric) Middlemen/traders enjoying most of the profits in the value chain Low level of technological development Manufacturing defects and rejection OPPORTUNITIES THREATS Availability of government policies and schemes Organized apparel parks developed by government Potential for developing of skilled labour Globalization can provide tremendous market potential Competition between existing units Lack of skilled labour in the new generation

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BRANDING CONCEPTS BRAND Brand is the "name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's product distinct from those of other sellers."Initially, branding was adopted to differentiate one person's cattle from another's by means of a distinctive symbol burned into the animal's skin with a hot iron stamp and was subsequently used in business, marketing, and advertising. A modern example of a brand is Coca Cola which belongs to the Coca-Cola Company. Brand awareness is the extent to which a brand is recognized by potential customers, and is correctly associated with a particular product. Expressed usually as a percentage of target market, brand awareness is the primary goal of advertising in the early months or years of a product's introduction. Brand awareness is the extent to which the consumer associates the brand with the product that they wish to purchase. It is the brand recall and the brand recognition of the company to the consumers. Brand recall is the ability of the consumer to recollect the brand with reference to the product whereas brand recognition is the potential of the consumer to retrieve the past knowledge of the brand when enquired about the brand or shown an image of the brand logo. Brand awareness is an essential part of brand development which helps the brand to stand out from the others in this monopolistically competitive market. A brand name that is well known to the great majority of households is also called a household name.

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BRANDING ELEMENTS: BRAND NAME LOGO SLOGAN SYMBOLS/PICTURES MARKETING MESSAGES MARKETS SERVED

BRANDING MODELS

AAKERS MODEL The Aaker Model, created by David A. Aaker, a marketing professor at the University of California-Berkeley and a management consultant at Prophet, is a marketing model which views brand equity as a combination of brand awareness, brand loyalty and brand associations, which add up to give the value provided by a product or service.[1] For Aaker, brand management starts with developing a brand identity, which is a unique set of brand associations representing what the brand stands for and offers to customers an aspiring brand image. Aaker primarily sees brand identity as consisting of 8-12 elements which fall under four perspectives:

Brand as Product - consists of product scope, product attributes, quality or value of the product, uses, users and country of origin. Brand as Organisation - consists of organizational attributes, local workings versus global activities. Brand as Person - consists of brand personality and customer-brand relationships. Brand as Symbol - consists of audio and visual imagery, metaphorical symbols and brand heritage.

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The purpose of the Aaker Model is to help in creating a brand strategy consisting of different brand elements or patterns, so as to clarify, enrich and differentiate a brand from its competitors. An organization carefully employs several of these elements to communicate to the consumers what their brand stands for.

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CONSUMER SURVEY OBJECTIVE: To identify the importance of branding in the current market scenario

Place: Gariahat , Hathibagan

DATA ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATIONS OF SURVEY

Occupation
Student 10%
proffetionals 23%

self employed 20%

House wife 47%

Interpretation: From this pie-chart it is clear that majority of the respondents are house wife and rest of the share is occupied by self employed.

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Price
16 14 12 10 8 6 Branded Non-branded

4
2 0

1=Strongly disagree

5=Strongly asgree

Average Score of respondent in case branded saree=(2*1+4*2+3*3+10*4+11*5)/30=3.8 Average Score of respondent in case non- branded saree=(1*1+2*3+3*2+4*10+5*14)30=4.1 Interpretation: According to the score it can be interpreted that in case of the non-branded saree , more respondents are influenced by the price the product .On the other hand , in case of branded saree price a key influencing factor but the affect of price is less than the nonbranded one.

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Print
14

12
10

8
6

4
2

Branded Non-branded

Average Score of respondent in case branded saree=(1*2+2*2+3*7+4*10+5*9)/30=3.73 Average Score of respondent in case non- branded saree=(1*2+2*2+3*6+4*8+5*13)/30=4.03 Interpretation The graph shows that print of the fabric is one of the key factorsinfluence consumers to purchase branded and non-branded factor .

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Colour

14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 1=Strongly 2=Disagree disagree 3 Branded Nonbranded

4=agree

5=Strongly agree

Interpretation The graph depicts that the role of color in influencing no consumers towards the branded and non-branded products is same.

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BRAND NAME
25

20

15 Branded

10

0 1=Strongly disagree 2=Disagree 3 4=agree 5=Strongly agree

Interpretation The graph shows that most of the respondents have same attitude towards branded products. Brand name play important role in consumer behavior or affect the purchase decision.

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Brand Image

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 Branded

1
0 1=Strongly disagree 2=Disagree 3 4=agree 5=Strongly agree

Interpretation: The graph shows that brand image is also most important attribute which influence consumer behaviour towards a particular product.

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RECOMMENDATIONS

Globalisation has dramatically increased the need for specializa-tion and excellence. Clusters are often a remarkable lever to foster and accelerate this process as they speed up innovation, boost the cooperation among actors and contribute to the territorial economic development. Nowadays, no territory or cluster can think of itself as self-contained and sufficiently endowed of resources and competences to operate in international markets and world-scale value chains. Local actors and territories should define their position within global value chains and rethink their functions within a global space. In this competitive and dynamic environment, it is important for these clusters to differentiate themselves, and this is the reason why many of them are now putting a more strategic focus on developing a branding and marketing strategy. In order to be an internationally competitive cluster (world class cluster), it is necessary to be able to attract external interest and re-sources such as skilled people and capital. At the same time there is the need to attract the internal actors to join the cluster and to mo-bilise around a common vision and strategy. Marketing and brand-ing are therefore key issues for the long term growth and future competitiveness of clusters. Branding strategies have to be developed by cluster organisations in order to plan and realize cooperative interventions and strategic actions, uniting more realities under a unique image.

This increases opportunities and visibility. Powerful brands can enable: 90 | P a g e

Stronger and more profitable collaborations; Better visibility outside the parent organisation; More effective outreach; Shortened time to technology transfer; More consistent and swift application of research results; Lower cost of licensing; Stronger partner loyalty; Competitive platforms for market impact; An effective means for greater, faster and more reliable funding; Lower costs of funding campaigns and capital; Hiring of top talents.

Other benefits for SMEs include the cut in communication costs and the higher degree of perceived quality. For Regions and Countries, visible and excellent clusters and a suc-cessful cluster marketing strategy bring several benefits. For instance it is possible to enhance the image of the territory and to establish linkages between the cluster itself and the place where it is located. Policy makers have to take into account that creating a brand and structuring a branding strategy requires launching a complex and comprehensive process to analyse the strengths and the potentiali-ties of the cluster, the goals that the cluster aims to achieve and the strategy to reach these goals effectively. The public support for branding activities should therefore not be limited to initiatives supporting clusters promotion but could be-come a tool to sustain their innovative development. DEVELOPING THE BRAND The starting point to create a successful brand is defining the iden-tity (core attributes and unique value proposition) you would like to link strongly with the cluster. Through the brand you will position the cluster in the minds of its most relevant target groups and stakeholders. The brand sums up the image that is perceived internally by the members and externally by the clients, the community, and the other stakeholders. It is there-fore important that the brand building process involves the joint per-spectives of those key groups. The cluster members have to be in-volved especially to ensure that they feel that their needs, views and concerns have been heard and are included in the identity and in the values of the cluster. This is relevant for two main reasons. The first is that the brand is designed and built through the input of the members themselves and, secondly, to consolidate and reinforce a brand, a consistent and committed action of all the members is required. The brand includes some key elements:

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Core values and attributes: The integration into business and brand strategy, as well as any interaction. Value Proposition: The unique selling proposition. Personality: Attributes and Associations. Visual System: This is the mark, logotype, typographic system. Colour palette and imagery. However, it is important to underline that even if the first purpose of a brand is to distinguish one thing from another, it represents much more than just names or logos. It is a mixture of tangible and intangible attributes displayed in a trademark that creates influence and generates value. This value is called Brand Equity and is based on the extent to which the brand has high loyalty, name awareness, perceived quality and strong product associations. It permits to cre-ate a long-lasting relationship with the clients, who are often guided by brands during their purchase decisions. The positive feelings consumers accumulate about a particular brand are what makes the brand a valuable asset for the company that owns it. Branding is a strategic process that should include not only the view of the cluster organization and its members but also the perspective of the stakeholders (including policy makers). It has to take into ac-count the economical context in which the cluster is located. It is also relevant to decide how to proceed to include these wide and multi-faced views and goals

It is smart taking advantage of the image/slogans created by media if this is in line with the cluster identity and vision; The idea of visualising the cluster (with a map) is worth because it helps the audience to understand better the potentiality of the cluster; Clusters branding strategies should be harmonised with the regions branding strategies; The activity of revamping a brand should be carefully carried on; Different brand layered in time for the same cluster, too many visual identities, overlapping of branding strategies produce a confused message for the audience. Cluster marketing and branding can be a powerful communication tool if

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it is in line with the regional innovation strategy for smart specialisation; The synergic branding and marketing initiatives of cluster organisations, cluster members and public authorities reinforce reciprocally their identities;

Using elements taken from the tradition to promote clusters connected to technology and innovation is original and appealing; Organising promotional initiatives targeted to the community (museums, awards, events for children, training...) is important to consolidate the image of the cluster internally (in place where the cluster is located).

Using elements taken from the tradition to promote clusters connected to technology and innovation is original and appealing; Organising promotional initiatives targeted to the community (museums, awards, events for children, training...) is important to consolidate the image of the cluster internally (in place where the cluster is located).

BRANDED HOUSE AND HOUSE OF BRANDS The issue is also called the dilemma of Branded House vs House of Brands. In the first case the company is the brand. All products and services within that company are subsets of the primary brand. Although many product lines exist, their marketing strategy has to be consistent and encompass the branding strategy of the house. This strategy has the benefit to allow scale economy, lowering the costs of brand building for all the lines and focusing only to build and sustain the image and the values of the primary brand. In the mind of consumers the brand value so built is automatically transferred to all the products. Product image: ISO-Certified Eco-friendly and organic materials used Penetration pricing

ISO and SMEs ISO International Standards help businesses of all shapes and sizes to work more efficiently, increase productivity and access new markets.

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For small to medium sized businesses (SMEs) these benefits can make a significant difference to annual turnover, sometimes the difference between success and failure. As an SME, some of the benefits of using International Standards include:

the opening up of export markets as products will be compatible on a global scale increased efficiency, and Increased credibility and confidence as customers from all over the world recognise ISO International Standards.

ISO 9000 - Quality management The ISO 9000 family addresses various aspects of quality management and contains some of ISOs best known standards. The standards provide guidance and tools for companies and organizations who want to ensure that their products and services consistently meet customers requirements, and that quality is consistently improved. There are many standards in the ISO 9000 family, including:

ISO 9001:2008 - sets out the requirements of a quality management system ISO 9000:2005 - covers the basic concepts and language ISO 9004:2009 - focuses on how to make a quality management system more efficient and effective ISO 19011:2011 - sets out guidance on internal and external audits of quality management systems. ISO 9001:2008 ISO 9001:2008 sets out the criteria for a quality management system and is the only standard in the family that can be certified to (although this is not a requirement). It can be used by any organization, large or small, regardless of its field of activity. In fact ISO 9001:2008 is implemented by over one million companies and organizations in over 170 countries. ISO standards aim at:

A set of procedures to cover all key processes in the business. Monitor the process and ensure its effectiveness. Quality requirements of customers. Checking outputs for defects, and taking corrective actions in appropriate places. Applicable regulatory requirements to enhance customer satisfaction. Achieve continuous improvement of performance.

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Application in the Textile and Apparel Industries: Textile and apparel industries have many complicated activities and challenges involved in the course of its operation. Their operation incurs heavy expenditure to the manufacturers. Many textile and apparel industries have implemented ISO standards to lower its operating costs and improve the quality of its output, ultimately increasing the level of customer satisfaction. Textile and apparel industries account for a sizable percent of manufacturing jobs in a global perspective. They employ millions of people directly and indirectly. They form a massive industrial complex and prove to be a big contributor among the manufacturing industries of any country. Some textile and apparel industries view ISO certification is only necessary as a factor for exports. But, the main matter of concern in textile industry is that an imperative relation exists between the quality of the materials and the quality of the final product. ISO standards enable the industry to enhance the quality of raw material input, thereby strengthening the quality of the ultimate product.

Market for ISO Certification: As every day passes by, global competition is heating up. Textile and apparel industries are in the midst of major changes. To keep pace with the market scenario, industries rely more on quality and innovative fabrics, and apparels, and quick response to the needs of the customer. Innovations in the fields of nanotextiles, nonwovens, electro textiles, medical textiles, and geo textiles are providing new opportunities for the manufacturers and tap the market. Simultaneously, these opportunities also encompass them with critical challenges. Organizations today engage in many international trade activities, and this certification proves a pre-requisite for their survival in international competition. ISO certification helps the companies in market creation and penetration.

ISO Certification for Textile and Apparel Industries Benefit of ISO certification: Implementation of ISO helps the textile and apparel industries to enhance their product and process quality, minimizes defective supplies and reworking. Furthermore, it can also be used as a marketing tool. As it is a well-recognized standard for quality, it shows the customers that the company takes quality seriously. ISO certified companies focus more on the quality of its products and operations. It also motivates the employees in improving quality. The cost of implementing ISO is comparatively cheaper to the benefits derived out of it. Many ISO certified companies positively assert that their total costs went down to a considerable extent regarding quality maintenance after the implementation of ISO.

Source: www.textiletoday.com 95 | P a g e

The product should adhere to: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Memorability Meaningfulness Likability Transferability Adaptability Protectability

Memorability Brand elements should inherently be memorable and attention-getting, and therefore facilitate recall or recognition. For example, a brand of propane gas cylinders named Blue Rhino featuring a powder-blue animal mascot with a distinctive yellow flame is likely to stick in the minds of consumers Brand elements should inherently be memorable and attention-getting, and therefore facilitate recall or recognition. In other words, the intrinsic nature of certain names, symbol, logos and the liketheir semantic content, visual properties, and so onmay make them more attention getting and easy to remember and therefore contribute to brand equity. For example, a brand of propane gas cylinders named Blue Rhino featuring a powder-blue animal mascot with a distinctive yellow flame is likely to stick in the minds of consumers.

Meaningfulness Brand elements may take on all kinds of meaning, with either descriptive or persuasive content. Two particularly important criteria 1. General information about the nature of the product category 2. Specific information about particular attributes and benefits of the brand The first dimension is an important determinant of brand awareness and salience; the second, of brand image and positioning. Brand elements can also be chosen whose inherent meaning enhances the formation of brand associations. Brand elements may take on all kinds of meaning, varying in descriptive, as well as persuasive, content. For example, brand names could be based on people, places, animals or birds, or other things or objects.

Likability Do customers find the brand element aesthetically appealing? Descriptive and persuasive elements reduce the burden on marketing communications to build awareness. 96 | P a g e

The associations suggested by a brand element may not always be related to the product. Thus, brand elements can be chosen that are rich in visual and verbal imagery and inherently fun and interesting. Independent of its memorability and meaningfulness, how aesthetically appealing do consumers find the brand element? Is it inherently likable, both visually, verbally, and in other ways? In other words, in dependent of the particular product or service, how much would consumers like the brand element?

Transferability How useful is the brand element for line or category extensions? To what extent does the brand element add to brand equity across geographic boundaries and market segments? To a large extent this depends on the cultural content and linguistic qualities of the brand element Adaptability The more adaptable and flexible the brand element, the easier it is to update it to changes in consumer values and opinions. For example, logos and characters can be given a new look or a new design to make them appear more modern and relevant Because of changes in consumer values and opinions, or simply because of a need to remain contemporary, brand elements often must be updated over time. The more adaptable and flexible the brand element, the easier it is to update it. For example, logos and characters can be given a new look or a new design to make them appear more modern and relevant.

Protectability Marketers should: 1. Choose brand elements that can be legally protected internationally. 2. Formally register chosen brand elements with the appropriate legal bodies. 3. Vigorously defend trademarks from unauthorized competitive infringement.

A trademark can be registered by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and protected in the courts. However, the trademarks should consist of elements such as: 1) It is not being used by someone else, 2) It is not forbidden, 3) It is distinctive, and 97 | P a g e

4) It is being used in commerce to allow consumers to identify one brand, and distinguish it from others. If a mark is not distinctive, it can still be registered on the Supplemental Register. However, it will not receive protection in the courts. It will also not receive the many benefits of a being on the Principal Register.

Units in the cluster can open up their own retail store instead of providing their products to the buyers. They can get their brand name, once made, registered at the regional trademark office. Make a business plan and financial plan. Follow compliance Make use of the schemes provided by the government Show-case their products at trade fairs in order to gain recognition

Background of the Entrepreneurs & their enterprises

Almost all the enterprises are family-based. The owner and other family members are the manager, operator, technician, negotiator. There is hardly any qualified people employed from outside. As a result no fresh idea come up and the process of manufacture remain conventional & unchanged. One needs to understand that there are several functional areas in an enterprise where qualified and experienced persons are required. The level of awareness of the entrepreneurs; especially in technical and marketing areas, is not as high as it should be. Low level of education has remained a major problem for them. Most of the entrepreneurs / artisans are from low middle class & BPL families and their general education level is illiteracy to semi-high school standard. Most of them are holding either traditional or self-developed manufacturing units. Most of the units have no SSI registration certificate, pollution clearance certificate, and most of the artisans have no 98 | P a g e

identity card, insurance coverage etc. and their not so cautious about the health problems but all most all of them have a common characteristics of performing their business in a secret & sketchy accounting manner without maintaining proper official and Governmental papers and records. Whatever the manufacturing process are available in the cluster, it was developed in the process of coping others. Outside interventions are minimum, especially in technology. Incase one had got something from somewhere, others just followed it. Hence, technology upgradation programme along with managerial development programme should be taken.

Finance and Working capital: Finance has never been a bigger problem for the entrepreneurs in the Cluster area. Many a times excessive credit given to the customers / traders creat temporary shortage in working capital and ruined many small units. Though finance was not so hard available with local Banks ( Bank of India, Hotor Branch & Sagar Gramin Bank, Dhamua Branch). There is a problem of getting finance to new entrepreneurs without having much guarantee and security. Existing small and medium units suffer from problem of working capital. Manager, BOI, Hotor reported that their Branch opened in 1982 and they started financing since about 1983. Since then they supported about 600 Silver artisans / entrepreneurs. They had to write off about 450 nos. accounts and most of them belong to IRDP, SESRU, SEEUY, PMRY borrowers amounting to Rs. 18 Lakhs. Presently, some 90 accounts are live involving an amount of Rs. 20 Lakhs. Recently, in last 2-3 years some 5 accounts have been given finance under KVIC-MM scheme involving Rs. 15 Lakhs which have been proved successful. He also expressed that as the transaction in Silver industry mainly done in kind and not in cash it is quite inconvenient to maintain C/C accounts in which frequent transaction is very important mater. Many of Silver loanee make empty the C/C accounts in few withdrawals and do not step in the Branch for ever. The machinery & fixed investment involved medium & Large units are some better organized in financial planning, but as the cost of the machineries being less the entrepreneurs hardly approach bank for Term lending of their new machines. Financial planning and Credit-linkage programme workshop to be promoted in future. Awareness on several sponsored finance like KVI-MM scheme, Mutual CG scheme etc. to be widened.

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Manpower: Skilled workers are locally available to run the machine and perform the handicrafts works. But business development services in technical and marketing area (except some I.T.,S.T.,service providers) is difficult to find. There is no training facilities / Institutions available in the Cluster. The workers learn on the job and by observing others. There is severe lacking of sharing of common problems. Lack of information creates no mutual trust which do not help to form Association or Network, which is very much required for market development. There is no common approach for joint-marketing in bulk, which increase the profit margin and marketing aspects of Cluster players. Re-orientation for mindset of stakeholders for formation of groups, networks, associations, SHGs, Co-operative society (and ultimately SPV) is needed.

Infrastructure: There are no such problems regarding Transportation. The location and transport facility have already been discussed in the chapter of Product, Place & Geographic map. There are some electrification of area and power cutting problem in Cluster. If a feasibility study for CFC is done and the same reveals the necessity of CFC (including technology cum business & marketing resources), then CFC is to be constructed in future.

Business development Service : The business development services have not yet grown such in the Cluster area. There is no technical training institution (Once a training course on Silver Filigree used to run in the Baruipur Experimental Workshop, the same had been closed for about a decade), no Research & Development Laboratory (Except the existence of 6-8 nos. Private Tonching / Testing centres in the area), no Management Institution, no Technical & Marketing expertise, no Design development center (though NIFT ,Kolkata is not long far from the Cluster Core-site, no entrepreneur yet ventured to approach it. FACSI organized very recently in 2006 a design development training at Moukhali attaching a NIFT- faculty) available in & around the Cluster. Hence, workshop programmes to be organized and centers to be developed and contactedlinked up for the above short-comings. Simultaneously, a Data Bank of BDS providers is to 100 | P a g e

be prepared. Presence of networks and intra and inter stakeholder group (network) dynamics: No strong linkage exists among the Cluster stakeholders who are subject to a high degree of discrimination and the present network is found to be uncondusive for growth. The artisan type Clusters are just like dependent type wherein no divergent operation could be witnessed. All business operations are controlled by few traders on closed-edge coverage. Support services from Financial Institutions / Banks, Industries Department and Research Organisation are yet to be established probably for the reason that most of the units set up by artisans unaware of the incentives, facilities and service offered by various Promotional & Development Agencies functioning within the State. The unit also do not appear to have made any positive dent on commercialization of their operation.

Important Service Providers: It has been observed that at present there is no get together or group type meetings among the entrepreneurs / workers are organized to enable them discuss and thrash out problems and exchange ideas on new innovations needed in the field. Most of the units procure raw Silver with order and designs from wholesalers /traders and only very few units make filigree ornaments / showpieces for sale directly to shop. It is also noticed that two to three chains of middlemen act between the outside end-customers and manufacturers of Cluster area. Most of the artisans have no direct link with any developmental Agency like DIC.,SISI.,NSIC., SIDBI etc.

Product image: ISO-Certified Eco-friendly and organic materials used Penetration pricing

The product should adhere to: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Memorability Meaningfulness Likability Transferability Adaptability Protectability 101 | P a g e

CONCLUSIONS After the study of the clusters visited, it was found that:

There are no existing brand and product image in the cluster. The need for a brand name is prominent & will benefit the cluster. The traditional aspect of the craft can be tapped. A brand name will give provide awareness about the rich heritage of the craft. Once brand name will be formed, it will help the cluster owners to create a unique market for themselves because of the uniqueness of the craft. Make sure clusters embrace the regions messages on local ex -cellence in innovation; Cluster marketing and branding enhances the attractiveness of the cluster towards potential new members, who see the advan-tages of joining. More members means activating a virtuous cycle that fosters innovation activities; Public support to branding activities should not be limited to initia-tives supporting a clusters promotion but it might become a tool to sustain their innovative development; Consider adopting a label for the regions best clusters in order to stimulate competition for excellence and to increase credibility and visibility of these clusters.

In order to ensure a win-win game for regions and clusters, make sure there is a link between the branding strategies of the region.

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Limitations of The Study As a student, we knew we would be novices at conducting a research project, with limited resources and little market research experience. From the beginning, our research was affected by limitations, due to time constraints of the semester as well as due insufficient market places. We tried to conduct industry and trade journal article research prior to forming the hypotheses due to scope and time restraints of the course but however, could not glean much information. We were limited on time so we went solely based off of our personal conjectures. Again, due to time constraints, we failed to administer a pretest of the survey. Sample selection error was inescapable given our resources and time restraints and thus the sample for our study was not representative of the entire Kolkata population of males and females, the full target market of our hypotheses. As the topic of the project is supposed to be completed only on both primary and secondary data, the reliability of data is tough. We could not visit all the places and industries around. It was limited to a particular district and hence cannot be expanded across diverse locations and various other parts. As the time was limited we could not cover the entire aspects of this field. But I have tried my best to present the current scenario of textile printing and printing industry and covered various aspects of branding.

Scope of the study There are several existing possibilities of product image and branding. A detailed research has been done for completing this project that will benefit the academic fraternity. It enlightens the various factors of the growth of the textile printing and its industry giving the overview of this method in today's India. It is also helpful in studying the current status of industry in India and future prospects. Primary data can be further collected by visiting the clusters in other parts of India and getting down to the nitty-gritty of further research by discussing with various

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BIBLIOGRAPHY Diagnostic study of artisan the textile hand printing cluster Jaipur, Rajasthan (1997) Niranjana S (2004), Thinking with Handlooms: Perspectives from Andhra Pradesh, 3.Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 39, No. 6, pp. 553-563. Hand Block Printed Textiles (HBPT) Cluster of Jaipur, India (1997) Niranjana S, Annapurna M, Syamasundari B, TummuruLatha and Uzramma (2006), Marketing Handlooms, Economic & Political Weekly, Vol. XLI, No. 31,pp. 3361-65. Kumar A (2007), Increasing Competitiveness, Yojana, July, pp. 29-33 AshisMithra et al A diagnostic report on cluster development programme of Shantipur cluster, Nadia, West Bengal, Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge, Vol.8 (4), and October 2009. Kannan K.P. Political Economy of Labour and Development in Kerala, Centre for Development Studies, January 1998 Reguladevi A.K. Plight of Handloom Weavers: A Study, Kurukshethra, 1st January 1983 Marshall A, Principals of Economics, London, ELBS and Macmillan, 8th publications, 1974 Aruna M (2006), URMUL: Weaving Selfreliance. Economic & Political Weekly, Vol. XLI, No.31, pp.3374-76. Dharmaraju P (2006), Angara and Koyyalagudem: Marketing in Handloom Cooperatives, Economic & Political Weekly, Vol. XLI, No. 31, pp. 3385-87 http://www.dcmsme.gov.in/publications/books/clusdev/ch3.pdf http://www.dcmsme.gov.in/clusters/clus/indsme.htm http://www.dcmsme.gov.in/clusters/unido/cdp.htm http://smallb.in/%20/manage-your-business%20/production%20/improveproductivity%20/bds-cluster-initiatives http://www.undp.org/content/dam/india/docs/humandevelopment/HDR/DHDR_Hooghly.pdf http://natmus.dk/fileadmin/user_upload/natmus/etnografisksamling/dokumenter/Serampore_ Socio-cultural_Study_-_Main_findings_report.pdf http://scidok.sulb.uni-saarland.de/volltexte/2011/3078/pdf/sm200407.pdf

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APPENDIX - 1 Questionnaire

GENERAL INFORMATION Artisans Name Artisans Age Group1) 19-25 3) 34-40 5) 45 & above Artisans GenderEducations level of artisan 1) Male ( ) 1) Literate ( ) 3) Secondary ( What craft are you associated with? Are you self employedYes ( ) No ( ) ) 2) Female ( ) 2) Primary ( ) 4) College ( ) 2)26-33 4) 40-45

If no, specify place__________________ For how many years the craft has been practiced by family? 0-5yrs ( ) 5-10 ( ) 10-25 ( ) 25-50 ( ) beyond 50( )

Number of Family members participating in craft Average number of hours devoted to the craft per dayAre you engaged in any other activity apart from the handicrafts? 1) Yes ( ) 2) No ( )

If yes, specify the occupation___________________ Are you a member of any of the following organizations? 1) SHGs ( 3) Society ( ) ) 2) Cooperative ( 4) any other ( ) ) 5) None ( )

Are you planning to train your children in your traditional craft practices? 1) Yes ( ) 2) No ( )

Give reasons for your choice___________________________________ Where do you procure raw material from? 1) Local Market ( ) 2) Agents ( ) ) 3) Nearby Markets ( )

4) Far-away Markets (

From where do you get the designing inputs? From where you used to get the punching Cards. Is it any delay of supply of Designs What is the reason?

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What type of raw material (fabric) you use for production? From where raw materials are purchased? Any problem in getting availability of raw materials? Any difficulty in pricing What about the quality of Raw Materials & quantity to obtain raw materials?

INCOME RELATED QUESTIONS Average Price of product --------------------------------Current monthly income of the artisan: 1) Rs. 2500 5000 ( 3) Rs.7500- 10,000 ( ) ) 2) Rs.5000-7500 ( ) ( )

4) More than Rs. 10000

Do you have a saving account in the: 1) Bank ( ) ) 2) Post Office ( 4) No ( ) )

3) Any Others ( MARKETING

How do you sell your products? 1) Directly to customers ( ) 2) meals & festivals ( ) )

3) Dealer/Agent Network ( ) 4) Exports ( ) 5) Local Markets ( 6) Trade fairs ( ) 7) Any other ______________

Are you facing any difficulty in marketing your products? 1) Yes ( ) 2) No ( )

If yes, what are the main reasons? 1) Distance from your unit to market ( 3) Middlemen/Agent ( ) 2) Transportation ( ) )

) 4) Lack of domestic/local market (

What are your usual major products? Have you established any bulk market linkages? Whether you have participated any trade fairs? How you are addressing the bulk order requirement of big orders? Whether you need credit from Banks? Are you getting regular credit from banks? From where you usually getting credit? & for which? What is the amount? What type of finishing facility is available? Is there any difficulty you finding for finishing? 106 | P a g e

Any other_______________________ Occupational Hazards Are you facing any health problems from Printing /dyeing Activity?

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE GIVEN BY GOVT/NON-GOVT BODIES Which are the active Government/Ngo body in the region Are the artisans aware of any scheme offered by the govt. What assistance are they getting Source of Finance 1) Local Entrepreneur ( 3) Government ( 5) None Problems faced / reguirements How you are planning to overcome it? ) 2) Private Bank ( )

) 4) Private Lenders ( )

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QUESTIONNAIRE Dear Respondent, as part of an academic research it is aimed to collect the perception of consumers towards Branded and non-branded printing saree. You are requested to spend some of your time to respond to the following questions. This survey will take only 3-4 minutes of your valuable time. 1. Name .. 2. Age 3. Occupationstudent, work woman. 4. Do you buy saree? Yes No 5. Which type of saree do you buy? Handloom Printed 6. How many sarees do you buy in a year? .. 7. How many printed sarees do you have? . 8. How much do you spend on one saree? 9. Do you prefer branded printing sarees? Yes No,

10. Write down the Brand name of printed saree that comes first to your mind? 11. Attributes which influence you to prefer branded sarees Price 1=Strongly 2 3 disagree Quality 1=Strongly disagree Print 1=Strongly disagree Fabric 1=Strongly disagree Colour 1=Strongly disagree 2 3 4 2 3 4 2 3 4 2 3 4

5=Strongly agree 5=Strongly agree 5=Strongly agree 5=Strongly agree 5=Strongly agree

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Brand image

1=Strongly disagree

5=Strongly agree

Brand Name

1=Strongly disagree

5=Strongly agree

12. Attributes which influence you to prefer non-branded sarees Price 1=Strongly disagree Quality 1=Strongly disagree Print 1=Strongly disagree Fabric 1=Strongly disagree Colour 1=Strongly disagree 2 3 4 2 3 4 2 3 4 2 3 4 2 3 4 5=Strongly agree 5=Strongly agree 5=Strongly agree 5=Strongly agree 5=Strongly agree

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