About the scheme

• SFURTI (Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries) was launched by the Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) in 2005 with the view to promote Cluster development.

Objective of the Scheme

• To organize the traditional industries and artisans into clusters to make them competitive and provide support for their long term sustainability
• To provide sustained employment for traditional Industry artisans and rural entrepreneurs
• To enhance marketability of products of 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 improved skills and capabilities through training and exposure visits
• To strengthen the cluster governance systems with the active participation of the stakeholders, so that they are able to gauge the emerging challenges and opportunities and respond to them in a coherent manner

Criteria for Selection of Clusters

• The selection of clusters will be based on their geographical concentration which should be around 500 beneficiary families of artisans/micro enterprises, suppliers of raw materials, traders, service providers, etc., located within one or two revenue sub-divisions in a District (or in contiguous Districts). 
• The clusters would be from khadi, coir and village industries, including leather and pottery. 
• The potential for growth in production and generation of employment opportunities will also be considered in selecting clusters under SFURTI. 
• The geographical distribution of the clusters throughout the country, with at least 10 per cent located in the North Eastern region, will also be kept in view while selecting clusters.

Financial assistance & Nodal Agencies 

• The financial assistance provided for any specific project shall be subject to a maximum of Rs 8 crore.
• The following agencies shall be designated as the Nodal Agencies for the Scheme:

1. Khadi and Village Industries Commission – for Khadi and Village Industry clusters
2. Coir Board – Coir based clusters

Who Can Apply

• Non-Government organizations (NGOs)
• Institutions of the Central and State Governments
• Semi-Government institutions
• Field functionaries of State and Central Govt.
• Panchayati Raj institutions (PRIs)

Why in News?

• Vice Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Khadi Village and Industries Board reviewed the status of SFURTI Clusters in the Union territory recently.

Reference:

1. http://newsonair.com/News?title=Vice-Chairman-of-J%26K-KVIB-reviews-status-of-SFURTI-clusters&id=396158