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ECONOMY

RURAL BUSINESS HUBS
 

WITH ITS rapidly growing economy, India is now recognized as an important economic power. Concerns on who are the beneficiaries of this hitherto unseen economic development has been engaging the minds of the Government for sometime. In November 2004, the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh had observed that “the benefits of rapid economic growth unleashed through the reforms of the last two decades, need to flow to all sections of society, particularly rural India... We cannot allow India to be divided into two distinct zones, one a modern, competitive, prosperous one and the other a stagnant, backward one.” He also visualised the Panchayats as the medium to transform Rural India to 700 million opportunities.

The Ministry of Panchayati Raj developed these ideas into the Rural Business Hubs initiative which aims at developing an integrated relationship between rural producers and business partners for mutually beneficial cooperation, the entire process being facilitated by the Panchayats. This initiative is built on the idea of convergence of resources available under Central/State Governments schemes, institutional credit and partnerships at the local level. The Ministry planned to promote atleast one RBH in each of the 6000 Development Blocks of the country.

The 4-P Model: The RBH initiative has been developed in partnership with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) as a 4-P model (Public-Private-Panchayat-Partnership) with clearly laid out roles and responsibilities for each of the partners. Panchayats perform the key role of identifying skills and endowments of people and natural resources, address the concerns of local inhabitants, establish and sustain community linkages, extend institutional support to viable business initiatives that benefit the rural populace and at a later stage, integrate the economic development plan emerging from RBH initiative with the decentralised district planning process. The business partners would perform the roles of identifying local skills/products that have wider market potential, prepare Business Plans acceptable to the community and provide sustainable local employment. The Central/State Governments would support the initiative through conducive policy regime, dovetailing government schemes, bridging critical gaps in infrastructure etc.
A National RBH Council Co-Chaired by Minister PR and Past President CII and Minister of State (Commerce) as Vice Chairman, is leading the initiative since December 2004. Similar Councils have come up in 15 States.

Convergence: The initiative works on convergence of resources from Central / State Governments, financial institutions and other partners.

The Exim Bank has signed MoU with Ministry through which the Bank will provide assistance in identifying the exporters, especially from the SME sector, who can source the products from RBHs with transparent pricing being ensured. The Banks will also provide enhanced visibility to identified RBH products in international markets by linking them with the Bank’s rural portal and displaying them at their overseas offices.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has extended financial assistance to CII for identifying RBHs in North Eastern Region and three RBHs have been initiated, based on this study.

The National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) under Department of Science & Technology has converged with the RBH initiative on Sumak Carpets in Nagaland and TIFAC has done so in case of essential oil project in Bihar. Spices Board is involving the PRIs in their joint initiative with ITC in the North East while Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts is doing so in Bastar, NABARD in Bidar, Eastern Zone Cultural Centre Kolkata in Purulia, Handloom Export Promotion Council in Nagapattinam and Punjab National Bank in Bharatpur. Convergence has also been achieved in case of a few Special SGSY Projects in Karnataka and World Bank assisted DPIP in Rajasthan.

RBH MoUs: 131 MoUs across 15 States have been signed so far for setting up RBHs. 28 of them involving Sumak Carpets, Pottery products, handloom, handicraft, fresh fruit & vegetable and processing of agri produces are functional. Another 22 covering folk arts, handicrafts, compressed bricks, vermi compost and agri processing are ready to take of. Partners have been identified and the RBH process is under way in case of 27 other proposals covering handloom, handicraft, woollen products, agri produce, bio diesel, essential oil etc.

The Ministry, in consultation with State Governments, has identified 33 focus districts for setting up RBHs. District level Workshop have been held in seven of these districts and potential economic activities identified. Similar Workshops are scheduled in the remaining districts. CII has constituted a National Council consisting of rural facing companies interested to set up RBHs. First meeting of the Council was held recently. Members of this Council are expected to participate in the District Workshops and identify economic activities for setting up RBHs in their area of interest.
 

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India Aviation 2008 at Begumpet Airport

THE MINISTER for Civil Aviation Praful Patel will inaugurate the first ever-International Exhibition & Conference on Civil Aviation, “India Aviation 2008” at Begumpet Airport, Hyderabad on 15th October 2008. Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh will be the chief guest. Eminent speakers from the aviation sector across address the conferences. The Ministry of Civil Aviation and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) are jointly organizing the event.

India Aviation 2008 will showcase the development of Indian Civil Aviation industry at a time when India is becoming a major aviation player. The event will highlight the history, growth and present stature of Indian Civil Aviation.

The opening ceremony will be supplemented with spectacular fly-past by Surya Kiran and Sarang helicopters from Indian Air Force, followed by parasailing, para jumping and hot air ballooning by Aero Club of India. One new Airbus 319 will be inducted to Air India fleet, coinciding with the closure of inaugural function. Another highlight of the day will be the arrival of the largest passenger aircraft in the world, Airbus A-380 from France. The aircraft, which can cover 3/4th of a football ground, will be on both static and flying display at the event. An exclusive open house inter active session between the Minister and a congregation of more than 35 CEOs from major Aviation Companies on 15th October 2008 would provide an opportunity to the CEOs to discuss their future plan and policy issues before the Minister and senior officials of the Ministry.

Civil Aviation Ministerial delegations from 25 countries have been invited to participate in the event. A theme pavilion showcasing the past, present and future of Indian Civil Aviation will welcome the visitors at the Exhibition Venue. Rare photographs and models would be on display.

The International Conference on Civil Aviation, with panel discussions by eminent aviation experts and industry leaders from more than 20 countries is scheduled for 16th October 2008. The conference aims to bring into focus the cutting edge issues in aviation sector and help to prepare a roadmap for future development of aviation in the country.

Airfield area will display 37 International and domestic aircrafts from A380 to Pushpak the smallest aeroplane. The composition of display includes Boeing 777, Airbus 340-400, Learjet, Global Express, Challenger, CRJ900, Gulfstream, Illusion, Hawkerbeechcrafts, Cessnas and Helicopters. There will be daily flying display and customer demonstration flights from 0930 to 1700 hrs. The Exhibition would be open to public on 18th September 2008.

The preparations at the venue are in full swing for construction of hospitality chalets and air-conditioned pavilions, covering an area of over 12000 Sq Mtrs. More than 150 exhibitors from leading aviation and allied industries from around the world will participate. Airbus, Boeing, EADS, HAL, BEL, Rolls Royce, Engine Alliance, Cessna Aircraft Company, Bell Helicopter Textron, ATR, Bombardier etc to name a few of the major exhibitors will put up a mega show. Major airlines viz; Air India, Kingfisher, Jet Airways, Spicejet etc will demonstrate their profile and services which will also be one of the main attractions.

The event also aims at providing a platform for meeting of various aviation industries in order to forge partnership alliances and transfer of technology. Arrangements for meeting between companies as well as companies and government officials are being arranged during the event. It is expected that some Companies are going to make major business announcements to take advantage of the huge presence of both international and domestic media persons.

With the presence of aviation majors, United States being the partner country and Andhra Pradesh as host state, the event will pave the way for India becoming a major aviation hub in the near future as well as establishing the event as a major airshow in the world.


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