Page 148 - economic review

Industry and Labour120

are the other major institutions in Coir sector. Coir yarn producers , Product manufacturers and
exporters in private sector are also stake holders in the industry.

3.127 Kerala State Coir Corporation (KSCC) was set up in 1969 for the systematic development of
coir industry in the State. It caters the needs of the Small scale coir manufacturers by providing them
manufacturing and marketing facilities. Its diversified operations include curled coir manufacturing
and allied products sectors. The value of export of the corporation has increased from 1.17 crore to
2.44 crore during the year 2013- 14 compared to previous year.

3.128 FOMIL caters to the needs of domestic and international markets with a wide range of products
by its accent on technology, infrastructure and machinery such as its Denmark make Latex Backing
Plant producing international quality latex backed mattings, Modern Dye House, Semi Automatic and
Fully automatic Power loom, Auxiliary facilities and uninterrupted power system etc. The value of
exports from FOMIL has increased to 0.72 crore during 2013-14 compared to previous year.

3.129 The Kerala State Co-operative Coir Marketing Federation (Coirfed) is the apex federation of
primary coir Co-operative societies spread all over kerala. It is entrusted with the task of procurement
of the entire products of the member societies and marketing the produce of these co-operative
societies which provides sustenance to workers especially women. The value of export of Coirfed
has shown a sharp decline from 1.51 crore to 0.30 crore during 2013- 14 compared to previous
year .

3.130 The National Coir Research and Management Institute (NCRMI) is a State Government
institution set up to strengthen the R&D activities in coir sector to enable the industry in producing
more value – added products and products with new designs at reasonable cost. The NCRMI has
developed improved version of Defibering Machine with crusher for both green and dry husks with
a processing capacity of 600 husk per hour. It has also developed Automatic spinning machine,
Willowing machine, Electronic ratt and screener with more productivity , Agri coir cell and fiber
softening techniques. It is also developing pneumatic loom for the production of coir Geo textiles and
acoustic panel for the use in industry.

Export

3.131 The export of coir and coir products from India in quantity during the year 2013-14 was 537040
MT valued at 1476.04 crore as against 429501 MT valued at 1116.03 crore achieved during the
previous year. This recorded an overall increase of 25 per cent in quantity and 32 per cent in value
over the export of previous year. The achievement during the year is much above the target fixed by
Govt. of India, ie, 1.47 times of the fixed one. During the year 2013-14 the export of curled coir, coir
fibre, coir pith, coir rope, coir yarn, coir other sorts ,coir geo-textile, handloom matting, Power loom
Mats and rubberized coir of India have shown an increase both in terms of quantity and value when
compared to the previous year. The items such as coir rugs & carpet have shown negative growth
both in terms of quantity and value when compared to the figures of the previous year. Handloom
mats have shown decrease in terms of quantity and an increase in terms of value.

3.132 State Government has been providing adequate financial support to the development of Coir
sector. The exporters collect products from small scale producers co - operatives through Kerala State
Coir Corporation (KSCC) under Purchase Price Stabilisation Scheme. Kerala State Coir Corporation
(KSCC), Coirfed and Foam Matings (India ) Ltd.( FOMIL) have started exporting large quantities of
coir products due to the concerted effort taken by Government for exhibiting products by participating
in various national and international exhibitions and conducting ‘Coir Kerala’– ‘an International event
on Coir and Natural Fiber Products’ aimed at exploring and expanding the international market for

Kerala State Planning Board