India and UNIDO have signed a comprehensive $42-million country programme to strengthen the competitiveness and productivity of industry, with a special focus on employment generation and the greening of industry.

The five-year flagship programme was signed between Ajay Shankar, secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), under the ministry of commerce and industry, and  Dr Kandeh K Yumkella, director-general, UNIDO, in Vienna.

Briefing the media in the capital today, N N Prasad, joint secretary, DIPP, described the programme as a major initiative which was the first of its kind, while Philippe Scholtes, UNIDO representative and head of its South Asia operations, underlined its importance as a milestone in India-UNIDO Partnership.
The key areas to be addressed in the new integrated programme are:

• Induction of clean technologies, which would be done in the broader context of industry and climate change and aim at developing a clean-green industry.
  
• Introduction of energy efficiency and conservation in industry
  
• Acquisition, assimilation and development of new manufacturing technologies
  
• Water conservation practices
  
• Standardisation and total quality management
  
• Design and other Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) issues
  
• Skill Development; and
  
• Investment promotion.

The focus will be on key manufacturing sectors especially small and medium enterprise (SMEs) clusters in order to enhance employment generation and to ensure a more balanced and inclusive pattern of growth.

Recognising that the most cost-effective intervention is at the level of industrial clusters, there will be a mapping of clusters, at an estimated cost of  $2 million, which would, inter alia, identify the major SME clusters in the country and analyse the specific interventions that would be needed in the clusters to enhance their competitiveness.

The Country Programme 2008-2012 also features a sectoral and geographical focus reflecting UNIDO's domain of expertise as well as the emphasis given by local authorities to particular sectors and regions.

While it will cover sectors like leather, textiles, auto components, machine tools, chemicals and food processing industries which are all close to UNIDO's areas of specialisation; and regions such as Rajasthan-UP-MadhyaPradesh-Bihar-Jharkhand-Chhatisgarh-Orissa characterised by a relatively high incidence of poverty highlighted by the Planning Commission in the formulation of the UN Development Assistance Framework 2008-12.

As part of the greening of industry, it will introduce and promote eco-business partnership concept and approaches in selected Eco-Cities in India, including demand driven demonstration pilot projects in renewable energy, energy efficiency and waste management.

The  programme aims at raising the competitiveness of industrial enterprises through industrial policy advice, investment and technology promotion, technology-oriented initiatives to increase productivity, quality, energy efficiency, occupational health and safety, and the environmental sustainability of industrial production.

In line with UNIDO's operations in India over the last 40 years, the programme will also build on India's expertise, technology and know-how to assist other developing countries in the form of South-South cooperation through the UNIDO Centre which was established for this purpose in New Delhi in February 2007; and derives its strength from the role of the UNIDO International Centre for the Advancement of Manufacturing Technology (ICAMT) which assists developing countries in improving their technological performance through the transfer of advanced manufacturing technologies and promotion of north-south and south-south cooperation.

The programme is aligned to the objectives of India¡¦s 11th Five Year Plan 2008-2012 as well as the country¡¦s National Manufacturing Competitiveness Strategy, and supports, on the side of the UN, the UN Development Assistance Framework 2008-2012. It further builds on the pertinent recommendations of an evaluation report of the preceding Country Service Framework Programme