SFURTI

Scheme of Fund for Upgradation and Regeneration of Traditional Industries’ (SFURTI)

Source: Kurukshetra Magazine, Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises

Key features

Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), Govt. of India has launched this scheme in the year 2005 with a view to promote Cluster development.
As per the revised guidelines, the following schemes are being merged into SFURTI:
- The Scheme for Enhancing Productivity and Competitiveness of Khadi Industry and Artisans
- The Scheme for Product Development, Design Intervention, and Packaging (PRODIP)
- The Scheme for Rural Industries Service Center (RISC) and
- Other small interventions like Ready Warp Units, Ready to Wear Mission, etc.

Objectives

To organize the traditional industries and artisans into clusters to make them competitive and provide support for their long term sustainability and economy of scale
To provide sustained employment for traditional industry artisans and rural entrepreneurs
To enhance the marketability of products of such clusters by providing support for new products, design intervention, and improved packaging and also the improvement of marketing infrastructure
To equip traditional artisans of the associated clusters with the improved skills and capabilities through training and exposure visits
To make provision for common facilities and improved tools and equipment for artisans to promote optimum utilization of infrastructure facilities
To strengthen the cluster governance systems with the active participation of the stakeholders
To build up innovated and traditional skills, improved technologies, advanced processes, market intelligence and new models of public-private partnerships
To look for setting up of multi-product cluster with an integrated value chain and a strong market-driven approach for viability and long term sustainability of the cluster
To ensure convergence from the design stage with each activity of the cluster formation and operations thereof.
To tap the E-Commerce as a major marketing channel given the outreach and the growing market penetration of E-Commerce
To make a substantial investment in the area of product design and quality improvement.

Who can apply?

Non-Government Organizations (NGOs)
Institutions of the Central and State Governments and semi-Government institutions
Field functionaries of State and Central Govt.
Panchayati Raj institutions (PRIs)
Private sector by forming cluster-specific SPVs
Corporates and Corporate Responsibility (CSR) foundations with the expertise to undertake cluster development

Nodal Agencies

The following agencies shall be designated as the Nodal Agencies for the Scheme: