Department of Commerce, Government of India

The Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) was established in 1964 by the Government of India with the objective of strengthening the country’s external trade sector through development of human resources; generating, analysing and disseminating trade data; conducting research and providing consultancy services. The Institute has been the pioneer in imparting training in foreign trade management in the country and undertaking research and consultancy in various areas of international business. The Institute was awarded the status of Deemed University in May 2002 by University Grants Commission (UGC) and accredited in May 2005 as an “A” grade institution by National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) – an autonomous institution of UGC.

The Institute has emerged as a major centre of international business education by aligning its teaching, research and training capabilities with its core vision over the years and by constantly striving to create academic excellence through its four academic divisions namely Graduate Studies Division [GSD], Research Division [RD], Management Development Programmes [MDPs] Division and International Collaboration and Capacity Development [ICCD] Division. Each Division caters to competency development in a specific area and contributes to the overall growth of the Institute.

Details of the major activities carried out by the Institute during 2008-09 in the areas of training, research and conducting seminars/workshops are given below:

The Foreign Trade Library of IIFT is one of the largest of its kind (specializing in international business) in India. The WTO Resource Centre of the Library has rich collection of Books, Reports, Journals, video-cassettes, CD-ROMs and news items/articles on WTO and related issues. The WTO Centre brings out “WTO News Collection” (monthly – annotated), “WTO Documentation List” (monthly – annotated) and “Additions to WTO Resource Centre” (monthly – annotated).

Box 11.1

International Collaborative and Capacity Building Programmes

Seven MoUs were signed with foreign business schools.

Three training programs in foreign universities.

Two-day Management Development Programme in “International Commodity Trading and Price Risk Management.”

Twelve foreign students visited IIFT and twenty five students of IIFT visited foreign universities during 2008-09 under exchange programmes.

Six faculty members were nominated to attend international conferences.

During the year the Institute continued the publication of its periodicals – Foreign Trade Review (quarterly), Focus WTO (bi-monthly), Newsletter entitled “Technology Exports” (bi-monthly) in collaboration with the Department of Scientific & Industrial Research (DSIR). It also published an Occasional Paper entitled “A Review of India Sri-Lanka Trade Cooperation”.

There are four well equipped Computer Centres at IIFT, Delhi - three exclusively for the students and one for training and research activities of the Institute. The computer centres for the students are open round-the-clock and provide access to all IT facilities, including internet. The Institute has 4 mbps lease line to provide internet access to all the terminals. The network facilities have been extended to all possible places in the campus through wired and wireless. The class-rooms are equipped with LCD projectors and PCs for presentations.

IIFT, Kolkata has Computer Centre with 15 PCs available for the students. All services including internet, email, databases, etc. available at Delhi Campus are also provided at Kolkata through MPLS link.

Box 11.2

Placements of First Batch of MBA at IIFT, Kolkata

First batch of MBA students graduated from IIFT, Kolkata in 2008. The entire batch of 2006-08 was placed in a matter of just one day of its Placement Week. The average annual salary was about 9 per cent more than the previous year. The highest domestic salary package witnessed a quantum jump and international salaries were also competitive.

The National Centre for Trade Information (NCTI) was incorporated on 31st March, 1995 as a Company under Section 25 of Companies Act, 1956. The Company started functioning w.e.f. March, 1996. It has a Board of Directors for administration of its affairs, which includes representatives from Ministry of Commerce & Industry, National Informatics Centre (NIC), Indian Institute of Foreign trade (IIFT), and Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence & Statistics (DGCI&S).

The ITPO and NIC are co-promoters of the Company and have contributed a sum of Rs. 4.00 crore (Rs.2.00 crore each) as Corpus Fund in the equity contribution of the Company. The ITPO provides fully furnished office space and the NIC provides the Software and Hardware against their equity contribution in kind.

The Centre provides value added information in the field of electronic trading opportunities, live trade leads from World Trade Point Federation (WTPF), trade data analysis and organizes export awareness seminars, and updates/uploads information on its website. It has uploaded on its Website 52 issues of Trade Point-India containing approximately 250 Trade Leads each week.

The Indian Institute of Packaging (IIP), established by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, was registered under the Societies Registration Act in the year 1966 with an objective to undertake and promote study, research & development in packaging and package design; to provide short term & long term training in packaging technology for specific personnel employed in industry; to suggest measures to authorities concerned for further improvement and to stimulate consciousness for good packaging.

Box 11.3

Major Initiatives by NCTI

Setting up of Trade and Investment Information Centre (TIIC) for TRIFAC, Bhopal;

MoU with TEXPROCIL, Mumbai for providing trade data support, trade leads and country profiles;

Electronic Trading Opportunities (ETO) service to APEDA, NSIC and VITC, Bangalore;

Support service to Agricultural Sector as Tier – 2 partner under the project “‘Strategies & Preparedness for Globalisation in India’ implemented by GOI, UNCTAD &DFID;

Trade leads and trade data support to Govt. and private sector companies

The Institute has, since 1966, expanded its base and has set up its branches at Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Hyderabad. There are plans to set up its branches at Ahmedabad and North-East during the Eleventh Plan period.

The Institute completed projects for different organizations on a wide range of products like cut flowers, handloom and handicraft products, village and khadi products, drugs, coir and coir products, automobile spare parts etc. Continuous R&D support is provided to the industry in the field of packaging to gain strategic trade advantage.

Box 11.4

New Facilities at IIP

The Institute has installed a new Hydrostatic Pressure Tester to measure the hydrostatic pressure upto the maximum capacity of 35 kilo Newton for high thickness multilayer woven fabric upto the maximum thickness of 1000 gauge.

The Institute has also installed an ultra sonic thickness gauge tester for measurement of portable tank intended for the exports of dangerous goods.

The Institute has imported a Fourdrinier Infrared Spectrophotomer for identification of individual layer of polymeric material for the co-extruded plastic film.

The Institute has also imported an Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectrometer for carrying out analysis of heavy metal content like copper, lead, nickel, zinc, bismuth, silver, arsenic, cadmium, aluminium, silicon, etc presence in paper as well as plastic film.

The Institute has established a central laboratory for testing of Flexible Intermediate Bulk Container (FIBC) and IBC and has commenced issue of UN certificate as per the IMGD requirements.

The testing laboratories of the Institute at Mumbai are accredited to National Accreditation Board for testing and calibration laboratories as per ISO/IEC: 17025 for 105 tests of 11 types of packaging materials under mechanical testing, chemical testing and photometry testing. The testing laboratories of the Institute are also accredited to Bureau of Indian Standards for 29 Products Standards. All the testing laboratories of the Institute located at Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Hyderabad are authorised by Directorate General of Shipping and Directorate General of Civil Aviation for the testing packages for the carriage of dangerous goods for export by sea and air respectively.

A number of small, medium and large industries got their packaging samples tested at the Institute’s laboratories. The Institute also certified and issued certificates in respect of exports of dangerous goods by sea and as well as by air. The Institute tested a record number of 9865 packaging samples received from 6514 organisations. In addition, the laboratories also evaluated and issued 3087 UN certificates for packaging of hazardous cargo for exports to about 2539 organisations.

The Training & Education wing of the Institute regularly trains candidates for a 2 year P.G. Diploma in Packaging Technology. The current batch with 50 students each is undergoing training at Mumbai and Delhi. The Institute also undertakes a three months Intensive Training Course to impart knowledge about packaging to working executives and entrepreneurs apart from the Distance Education Course held for all working personnel in the field of packaging and allied areas. Seminars and collaboration programmes are also conducted by the Institute. At the convocation held on 4th November, 2008, 26 students received their Diploma in Packaging Certificates and 36 students received their P.G. Diploma in Packaging. Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, former President of India graced the occasion and gave away the certificates and Gold Medals and Siler Medals to students of PG Diploma in Packaging Technology and students of Distance Education Programme.

The Institute brings out a bi-monthly “Packaging India” journal covering wide range of issues related to packaging including packaging world under one roof, packaging vision 2020 and opening doors to the packaging world, pharmaceutical, FMCG and environment. The Institute also proposes to set up its new branches at Ahmedabad and North East during the current Plan period.

Box11.5

International Summit for Packaging Industry

An International Summit for packaging Industry was held in Mumbai on September 19-20, 2008 to share and inform the innovations in packaging industries and its constraints for growth under the theme “PACKAGING VISION 2020”. Over 550 participants jointed for the Summit from various countries including Sri Lanka, Dubai, Saudi Arabia and Singapore. Shri G.K. Pillai, Commerce Secretary inaugurated the International Summit.

In order to bridge the huge gap between the demand and supply of quality trained manpower in the footwear and leather product industry at all levels and to make the Indian industry globally competitive by extending qualitative manpower and other value added support, the Govt. of India has approved the establishment of ‘Footwear Design & Development Institute’ at Fursatganj, Rae Bareilly (UP).

FDDI, Fursatganj is planned with a capacity of 1000 students and would be well equipped with latest technology, adequate infrastructure and facilities to provide world class training to the students. The institute will also extend the consultancy and infrastructure support services to the industries located in the peripheral regions to make them globally competitive and prepare them for future expansion.

The academic courses planned for the academic year 2008-09 were started as per schedule with highly qualified and trained faculty/staff. Students from all over the country were enrolled in various disciplines at FDDI-Fursatganj through AIST (All India Selection Test).

With the objective of bridging the gap between demand and supply of trained manpower in the industry, the government has approved establishment of four new campuses of FDDI during the 11th Five Year Plan under the Integrated Leather Development Programme (ILDP) of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion. Three new full-fledged campuses of FDDI are envisaged to be set up in the states of Tamilnadu, Haryana, and West Bengal with a budgetary support Rs.96.69 crore from Government of India. These campuses would be equipped with state of art machinery & equipments, high tech computer centre, auditorium, staff quarters, hostel for boys & girls etc. Each campus would have a capacity of 1000 students.

Besides, one training centre is also envisaged to be set up at Chhindwara, Madhya Pradesh with a budgetary support of Rs. 24.85 crore during the 11th Five Year Plan. The training centre would initially have the capacity to train 250-300 students in the area of Footwear & Leather Goods Design, Technology and Retail management. It will eventually provide world class training facilities and opportunities in Central India in the area of Retail Management, Footwear & Leather Products Design, Technology and Management.

The process of setting up of all the campuses of FDDI is in progress. The FDDI Chennai campus is going to be functional from the academic year 2009-10 and the admission process for various disciplines, as planned, has already been initiated. The other campuses would be operational from the academic year 2010-11.

Under the Placement Linked Skill Development Programme (PLSDP) scheme, FDDI has also established Operators’ Training centres in Agra and Kanpur with the main objective of providing gainful qualitative employment to the unemployed youth, residing in the vicinity of the cluster, while strengthening the Indian footwear and leather product sector to attain global competitiveness through quality trained manpower.

In order to make the Industry globally competitive in terms of quality, cost & design and to ensure the use of latest systems/techniques, materials and methodology, the short term intensive training programme for fresh workers are planned in different areas of production. Each of the Manned centres have a capacity to train 2160 trainees per year and a total of 6480 trainees over a period of three years, in the areas of Cutting and Closing operation of manufacturing.

On-site training of fresh workers is also planned and being conducted for organized sectors under the PLSDP scheme to meet the immediate need of qualitative trained workforce in specific areas of the Industry. The workforce in different areas of production for some of the most renowned manufacturers and exporters like TATA, Florence etc. were trained under the programme and many more Industries are in the pipeline for the said purpose.

Expansion of Training services in the area of Retail Management, Fashion Merchandising and Leather Goods & Accessories Designing

FDDI has increased the training capacity and subsequently the strength of students in various areas of Retail, Fashion Merchandising and Leather Goods & Accessories Design to meet the requirement of such trained professional for various levels and areas in the respective industries.

FDDI had launched various long-term (Post Graduate and Under Graduate) and short term academic programmes in the area of Retail Management, Fashion Merchandising, Leather Goods & Accessories in the year 2006. Considering the high requirement and absorption of such candidates in the respective industries, FDDI has increased its training capacity in the above mentioned discipline from 800 to 1200 students in 2008.

FDDI has been sanctioned projects for the development of ethnic clusters and artisans under “Support to Rural Artisans” Scheme of HRD Mission of Ministry of Commerce & Industry.

In order to ensure sustainability and overall development of the cluster, major interventions were carried out by FDDI in the area of Design ,Technological Advancement and Training, Tooling and System Standardization etc. in various clusters like Ajmer, Churu, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Alwar, Patiala, Abohar, Fazialka, Muktsar, Malot, Saharanpur and Chamba. FDDI undertook an intensive study of major clusters in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Kathiawad, Kolhapur and Leh & Ladhak regions to find out the status and the need of the artisans engaged in the cluster.

In Ajmer & Churu, special training programme was imparted to 1900 artisans. Female artisans were given special training in the areas of Design, Embroidery and Closing in the year 2008. Approximately 5000 artisans were also trained in Jodhpur in various areas of Manufacturing i.e. Design, Cutting, Closing, Making and Finishing.

The contributions of SMART (Society for Marketing of Rural Artisan Products), the society formulated for the development and promotion of ethnic products, have also been well appreciated. SMART has also been awarded “The Best of Asia Pacific Leather Fair (APLF), Fashion Access Award-2009”.

FDDI has provided training to workers of some of the renowned footwear factories in different areas of production where there is high degree skill involved. The onsite training of fresh workers is also being carried out by FDDI under Placement Linked Development Programme of ILDP under 11th Five year Plan to meet the immediate and specific needs of the organized Footwear and Leather Products Industry.

Considering the need of the Industry in the Southern region of the country, the Ministry of Commerce & Industry had sanctioned funds for setting up of Testing Lab and Design Studio in the 10th Five Year Plan. The Council for Leather exports (CLE) established the component park including design studio and laboratory in collaboration with Consortium of Shoe Manufacturers Pvt. Ltd., in the Footwear Components Park at Irungattukottai near Chennai.

Southern India is known as a hub for manufacturing and export of high end fashion footwear catering to markets like USA, UK, Germany, France, Italy etc. Keeping this in view, the upgradation of ITC Chennai has been approved by Department of Commerce.

FDDI enters into collaborations, time to time, with reputed international organizations in various fields and disciplines to ensure integration of international technology and culture in the leather and retail sector of the country. FDDI has collaborated with various international institutions like MCT, Australia; South Fields College, Leicester, UK; PFI, Germany; SATRA, UK; FENICE, ITALY etc to disseminate international technology and standards in Indian Leather and Leather Product Industry.

FDDI is the Project Implementing Unit (PIU) of the Integrated Development of Leather Sector Scheme (IDLS) for leather goods and garments, saddlery, leather footwear and footwear components. It has processed more than 90% of applications, received till date, successfully.

Box 11.6

International Collaborations During 2008-09

The Testing Lab of FDDI has been accredited with PFI Germany for the most prestigious test i.e. testing for CE marking in India.

FDDI has entered into collaborations with LDT, Nagold, one of the premier institutes in Germany in the area of Retail, Fashion, Footwear and Merchandising.

FDDI has collaborated with SCAM (Association of the Shoe Manufacturers in the Marche region), Italy, a leading Testing Lab for Quality and Product Conformity in the area of Innovations (Product & Material), Quality assurance & standardization, Technological research & up gradation and Human resource development. SCAM is recognized as one of the most important Technological Service Centres for the certification for quality assurance of shoes and leather industry and extends all kind of support services to the Industry of the region in the area of design, product innovations, experimentations, testing and quality control.

In order to provide benefit of the IDLS Scheme to the industry & for the timely implementation of the IDLS Scheme, FDDI has given adequate publicity by releasing advertisement of this scheme. Seminars and awareness programmes were conducted in Mumbai and Agra in the year 2008 for creating more awareness and facilitating the process of submission of the applications. In order to provide benefit of the IDLS Scheme to the industry, FDDI has provided the application forms and details of the Scheme in FAQ form at: http://www.fddiindia.com/services/projects/govproj/index.htm.

The Indian Diamond Institute (IDI), Surat established as a society in 1978, is a leading institute for imparting technical skills for the gems and jewellery industry. The Institute is conducting a number of important courses for the gems and jewellery Sector. These include:

During the year 2008-09, 940 students enrolled for various courses offered by the Institute. IDI also offers Professional Life Membership to individuals/firms engaged in the field of gems and jewellery and interested in furtherance of aims and objectives of the Institute. The Institute has been recognized world over as a Diamond Certification and Grading Laboratory. The Laboratory services provided by IDI are ISO-9001:2000 quality compliant. IDI has an Assaying and Hallmarking Centre (AHMC) approved by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), Govt. of India. AICTE has accredited its three year diploma course on Diamond, Gem & Jewellery Design & Manufacture.

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