• References received are inwarded in order to maintain the record of its receipt (clerical level).
• References so received are marked to a designated officer.(Officer in Gr.A or B) who analyses the case details and puts forth all the facts of the case.
• The next higher officer (Gr. C) verifies the facts and figures and recommends the possible alternative solutions.
• The next higher officer (Gr. D) examines the various options /solutions given and also gives other options, if any.
• The next higher officer (Gr E) selects the most appropriate solution, its pros and cons and facilitates the departmental head to take a quick and appropriate decision.
• The departmental head(Gr F) once again goes through all the analysis and takes a decision. If need be, he may consult the Executive Director or Managing Director before taking the final decision.
• All important decisions, involving policy implications or financial matters, are taken by Managing Director directly or with prior consultation with Management Committee, Executive Committee or Chairman.
• Decision making and Implementation are also a joint responsibility of all the officers who have been assigned the specific job, for which detailed guidelines have been issued by the Head Office. Therefore, accountability is fixed on the officer/s who is /are responsible to implement the decision.
• Head Office monitors and supervises the tasks given to Regional Ofiices for implementation by fixing MIS, visits etc.
• Within the Department, periodic meetings are held by the Chief General Manager with the Staff members / Officers to review the performance during the month and discuss important matters relating to the functioning of the Department / pendency of the cases or any new developments.
• The Executive Director in charge of the Department holds fortnightly reviews and compliance is submitted on the Review Observations.

Sr. No.	Description of activity	Grant Assistance (ceiling) per proposal
	Sanction - Rural Innovation Fund(RIF)
1	Funding support  ( grant / loan/ other approved mode ) up to Rs 10 lakh in respect of all activities funder under RIF:	CGM / RO In Charge on the recommendation of an inter-disciplinary Committee of in-charges of farm / Non-Farm / Micro Credit / Technical services Deptts. in ROs, within the guidelines under relevant schemes and within  the budget approved by Head office.
2	Misc. Interventions (Workshops, Seminars / Fairs / Meets / bring out literature, video-audio aids etc.)	RO in charge: upto Rs 50,000/- per event/ programme
3	Rural Entrepreneurship Development Programme (REDP)	Maximum financial support for an incentive based REDP  will be Rs 1.75 lakh with training component at Rs 1.0 lakhand incentive component at Rs 75000/-. However, RO has discretion to change the proportion for justifiable reasons.
4	Skill Development Programme(SDP)	The financial support for Skill Development Programme for a minimum of 25 trainees: Upto 2 weeks duration : Rs 35,000/-      2-3 weeks’ duration: Rs 45,000/-      4-5 weeks’ duration: Rs 85,000/-      6 weeks and above: Rs 1.20 lakh
5	Rural Haat Scheme	The maximum amount of grant support for setting up / strengthening of Rural Haat: Rs 5.0 lakh
6	Release of funds for projects sanctioned	CGM / GM/ DGM concerned in the Regional Office / Head Office will have powers to release the amount  sanctioned.

Year	Investment credit	Of which Rural Housing	Swarnjayanthi Gram Swarojgar Yojana-- Industries, Service, Business(SGSY-ISB) (Includes erstwhile IRDP)	Total
1990-91	80.00	--	268.00	348.00
1991-92	104.00	--	259.00	363.00
1992-93	184.00	--	244.47	428.47
1993-94	328.94	--	252.07	581.01
1994-95	411.08	--	263.68	674.76
1995-96	460.36	--	224.32	684.68
1996-97	644.68	--	246.63	891.31
1997-98	616.67	--	308.14	924.81
1998-99	653.95	--	398.85	1052.80
1999-00	837.42	--	345.00	1182.42
2000-01	1022.02	--	390.51	1412.53
2001-02	1615.97	501.86	290.49	1906.46
2002-03	2007.40	769.53	209.48	2216.80
2003-04	2363.22	1030.23	94.18	2457.40
2004-05	2542.58	1276.94	225.74	2768.32
2005-06	2285.98	1242.80	116.26	2402.24
2006-07	2265.16	1087.63	214.01	2479.17
2007-08	2747.95	876.41	126.16	2874.11
Cumulative disbursements upto 31 March 2008	21354.71	6785.40	5759.58	27114.29

Table 2 : Refinance under Investment Credit -RNFS  State-wise position during 2007-08

(Rs. in crore)

State	Achievement
	RNFS	of which rural housing
NEW DELHI	15.40	5.43
HARYANA	211.73	32.88
HIMACHAL	28.48	20.85
JAMMU AND KASHMIR	12.83	0.00
PUNJAB	351.08	227.84
RAJASTHAN	171.00	46.15
ARUNACHAL	0.00	0.00
ASSAM	69.04	15.84
MANIPUR	5.03	2.03
MEGHALAYA	11.81	7.66
MIZORAM	11.72	9.15
NAGALAND	0.00	0.00
TRIPURA	22.40	12.27
SIKKIM	3.19	2.16
BIHAR	59.59	10.21
JHARKHAND	24.39	2.77
ORISSA	147.96	79.95
WEST BENGAL	336.52	80.22
ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISL.	9.25	2.91
MADHYA PRADESH.	86.41	36.76
CHHATTISGARH	38.12	9.04
UTTAR PRADESH	244.00	32.36
UTTARANCHAL	42.69	1.56
GUJARAT	104.43	3.29
GOA	12.25	0.00
MAHARASHTRA	92.39	32.91
ANDHRA PRADESH	195.99	22.91
KARNATAKA	97.80	26.49
KERALA	235.84	152.16
PONDICHERRY	5.19	0.00
TAMILNADU	101.42	0.61
T O T A L	2747.95	876.41

Table 3 : Agency wise  refinance flow under RNFS investment credit
(excluding SGSY)

(Rs. in crore)

Agency	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	Cumulative upto 31 March 2008
Commercial Banks	531.48	699.78	966.94	1454.57	5959.52
	(20.91)	(30.61)	(42.69)	(0.53)	(27.91)
State Coop and Agri. Dev. Banks (SCARDBs)	623.63	589.72	605.06	594.5	6191.90
	(24.53)	(25.80)	(26.71)	(0.22)	(29.00)
State Cooperative Banks	625.8	533.12	312.90	278.90	4376.73
	(24.61)	(23.32)	(13.81)	(0.10)	(20.50)
Regional Rural Banks	756.78	457.41	380.26	416.56	4708.20
	(29.76)	(20.01)	(16.79)	(0.15)	(22.05)
Scheduled PCBs	4.89	5.95	0.00	3.42	118.36
	(0.19)	(0.26)	0.00	(0.001)	(0.55)
Total	2542.58 (100)	2285.98 (100 )	2265.16 (100)	2747.95 (100)	21354.71 (100)

(Figures in bracket indicate percentage share to total)

Table 4 :  Activity wise  refinance flow under investment credit (RNFS) (excluding SGSY)

(Rs.in crore)

      (Figures in brackets are percentages to total)

5. Swarojgar Credit Card (SCC) Scheme

Swarojgar Credit Card (SCC) Scheme was introduced in September 2003 for providing adequate and timely credit, i.e., working capital including consumption needs and /or block capital requirements to the small  artisans, handloom weavers and other self employed persons including micro-entrepreneurs and SHGs, etc.., from the banking system in a flexible, hassle free and cost effective manner.

Table 5 : State-wise/Year-wise Target & Achievements under SCC Scheme  and  Target proposed for 2008-09

Table 6 : Year wise progress of implementation of SCC Scheme

Year	No. of SCCs issued	Credit limit sanctioned (Rs in crore)
2003-04	28925	64.26
2004-05	150615	468.28
2005-06	288094	1410.65
2006-07	211441	756.90
2007-08	155296	679.26
Cumulative Progress as on 31 March 2008	834371	3379.35

6. Promotional Programmes

(A) NABARD-SDC Rural Innovation Fund (RIF)

The RIF which was formed by merger of 2 erstwhile SDC Funds viz: Credit and Financial Services Fund ( CFSF) and Rural Promotion Corpus Fund ( RPCF) is envisaged to emerge as an instrument to try out new ideas and innovations with a scaling up potential in Farm, Non farm and Micro finance sectors, apart from supporting the ongoing  promotional initiatives, with the objective of promoting livelihood opportunities and employment creation in rural areas and facilitating access to financial and business promotion services for the poor.  Various initiatives taken under RIF during 2007-08 are given below.

Financial Achievements during 2007-08
The total disbursement under RIF during 2007-08 reached a level of Rs 21.71 crore; up from Rs 15.19 crore during 2006-07 registering an increase of 42.92%. The component wise expenditure incurred under RIF during 2006-07 and 2007-08 is given in the table below:

Table:7 Details of Component-wise Expenditure under RIF(2006-07 & 2007-08)                      

(Rs in crore)

@ Includes Rs 4.30 crore expended for RIF administration, publicity and Workshops. Figures in ( ) indicate % share.

Component- I ( Innovative Projects)

During the year, 29 innovative projects involving funding commitment of Rs 7.55 crore were sanctioned taking the cumulative total of innovative projects to 32 and the total commitment to Rs 8.19 crore.

A list of innovative projects sanctioned till 31.3.2008 is given below:

Table 8: List of projects sanctioned under the innovative component of RIF as on 31 March 2008

( Rs in lakh)

Sl.No	Name of the Project	Champion of the Project	State	Amount Sanctioned (Grant/Loan)
1	Converting Mango Peel Waste into organic manure	SHARAZ Farm Academy, Hosur	Tamil Nadu	8.91 (Grant)
2	Arecanut Leaf Plate Making in Barpetta District	DHRITI, Guwahati	Assam	10.24 (Grant)
3	Integrated Neem Development in Bolangir District	Agency for Social Action(ASA), Bhubaneswar	Orissa	23.22 (Grant)
4	Contribution to Aavishkaar India Micro Venture Capital Fund	Aavishkaar India Micro Venture Capital Fund, Mumbai	All India	500.00 (Venture Capital Contribution)
5	Low Cost Rain Water Harvesting Structures	ICAR Research Centre, Umiam, Meghalaya	Meghalaya, Tripura, Nagaland, Manipur	10.00 (Grant)
6	Stevia Tea Cottage Industry.	Essomi Foundation Trust, Arunachal Pradesh	Arunachal Pradesh	17.64  (Grant)
7	Cultivation, Processing and Marketing of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants.	Om Shree Sai Kalyan Samiti, Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh	Uttar Pradesh	11.47 (Grant)
8	Soil Health Cards to Farmers Club Members	ICAR Research Centre, Agartala	Tripura	13.37 (Grant)
9	Innovative Jute Retting Project	Manosri Tarun Bani Mandal, Kolkatta	West Bengal	6.098  (Grant)
10	Rooftop Rain Water Harvesting Structure	Action for Rural Development (AFORD), Manipur	Manipur	12.25 (Grant)
11	Household Water Harvesting.	Adarsh Mahila Mandal, Bilaspur	Chattisgarh	1.418  (Grant)
12	Establishment of manufacturing unit for new Cotton Plucking Machines	Mr. V.V.Bilonikar Aurangabad	Maharashtra	15.00  (Loan)
13	Developing Rural Haats into Rural Business Hubs	MART, New Delhi	pan India	16.56 (Grant)
14	Preparation of Smoking Sticks from Coir Pith.	Krishi Vigyan Kendra, ICAR, Panniyur	Kerala	5.50  (Grant)
15	Bio-mass Gasifier using Sarpat Grass	Ramanand Saraswathi Pustakalaya, Azamgarh	Uttar Pradesh	6.705 (Grant)
16	Production of Fly Ash Bricks	Technology & Action for Rural Advancement (TARA), New Delhi	Maharashtra	43.74 (Grant)
17	Low Cost Storage technology for  table/ seed potatoes.	Central Potato Research Station, ICAR, Shillong	Meghalaya	4.33 (Grant)
18	Systematic Rice Intensification (SRI) – 5% model for Water harvesting.	Centre for Action Research & Management in Developing Attitudes Knowledge & Skills in Human Resources (CARM-DAKSH), Bilaspur	Chattisgarh	1.20  (Grant)
19	Developing Cost effective process for naturally dyed cotton yarn and integration of production of yarn, weaving and marketing of fabrics	Charaka Women’s Multi-purpose Industrial Cooperative Society, Shimoga, Karnataka	Karnataka	6.00  (Grant)
20	Pilot marketing of innovative fuel saving cooking stove	Bio-Activated Energy Mission (BAE), Bangalore	Karnataka	4.25  (Grant)
21	Promoting low cost spawn production unit and home based cultivation of mushroom through SHGs	Social Welfare Society	Karnataka	3.40  (Grant)
22	Setting up 5 Solar Tunnel Dryers (STDs) in Rajasthan.	College of Dairy and Food Science Technology, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur	Rajasthan	7.60  (Grant)
23	Setting up natural cold storage units for vegetables and potatoes	Shri Arvindbhai R Patel,	Gujarat	5.91 (Grant)
24	Product innovation involving modifications in the mechanism/ design of the conventional cotton de podding machine to improve the quality of the deshi  variety of kapas (cotton) by reduction of  trash content and separation of fragments of the pod thereby ensuring better colour, productivity and  purity.	Ahmedabad Textile Industry’s Research Association, (ATIRA) Ahmedabad	Gujarat	4.80  (Grant)
25	Setting up demonstration units for promotion of Biomass Gas Stoves for small commercial applications in 2 villages in Gouribidanur taluk of Kolar district, Karnataka	The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), Bangalore	Karnataka	4.26 (Grant)
26	Demonstration, manufacture, installation and scaling up of bio-mass based “Earth” Stoves (Sanjha Chulha) in Mohali, Chandigarh, Punjab State.	M/s. Nishant Bioenergy Consultancy (P) Ltd	Punjab	Venture-like support of  12.75 lakh towards meeting block capital requirements (repayable @ 10% of sales realization p.a.)  + grant assistance amounting to  11.08 lakh for meeting (i) working capital gap, (ii) 50% of the set-up costs of briquette-making units
27	Organic production of seeds and seedlings for vegetable growers in 15 villages in Pipli block of Puri district of Orissa.	Society for Advancement of Rural Poor (SARP)	Orissa	6.64  (Grant)
28	Development and Preparation of Bio Pesticides thru’ Self Help Groups in  Kanpur District, Uttar Pradesh State.	Society for Participatory Research and Development Action (SPREDA)	Uttar Pradesh	8.76  (Grant)
29	Popularisation and refinement of integrated disease management practices in apple nurseries in Himachal Pradesh	IARI, Regional Station, Shimla	Himachal Pradesh	9.14  (Grant)
30	Pilot Project for rainwater harvesting to improve sub-surface water quality and BG algae culture in rainwater harvesting structures, South 24 Paraganas Dist., West Bengal	Beliachandi Aastha Narikalayan Kendra (BANK)	West Bengal	5.925 ( Grant)
31	Demonstrating Innovative Low-cost Technologies for Sustainable Rural Development : Kavaraipettai	Dr A Jagadeesh, Head, R&D, Centre for Energy and Sustainable Resources, RM Engg. College, Kavaraipettai, Tamil Nadu	Tamil Nadu	2.10  ( Grant)
32	Integrated Development of Agriculture in the Semi-arid lateritic regions of West Bengal - Bankura, Purulia and Birbhum districts, West Bengal State	Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya	West Bengal	19.71  ( Grant)

The nature of innovative projects sanctioned ranged from pure product innovations like a cotton plucking machine and an innovative jute retting process to process innovations like promoting production of bio-mass energy through Self Help Groups of the poor, promoting cost effective water harvesting structures in the North East and production and marketing of integrated natural dye based fabric through weavers’ organisation.

The stage of innovations funded also varied from developing new products/ practices to pilot testing/ demonstration of innovative projects and even commercialization of innovations already pilot tested and patented. A proposal for investing Rs 5 crore in a micro venture capital fund (Aavishkaar Micro Venture Capital Fund Ltd.)  was also sanctioned during the year. The Fund is, one of the fore runner Funds in the Country with focus on investing in micro ventures mainly in agriculture and rural development projects.

The projects sanctioned during the year were fairly wide spread across the country with a number of projects emanating from the North East and other less developed regions. The State wise distribution of the innovative projects sanctioned so far, is given below:

Table 9:State wise Distribution of Innovative Projects (position as on 31 March 2008)

Component -II : Ongoing promotional Programmes in the Farm and Non-farm Sectors

The ongoing promotional programmes included farm sector programmes like Farmers’ Clubs, Pilot Project for Intensive Development (PPID) and the newly introduced Village Development Programmes (VDP) and non-farm sector programmes like Skill/Entrepreneurship Development Programmes, Meets/ Seminars/ Workshops/Training programmes for NFS promotion, Marketing and Technology Upgradation programmes, Women Development Programmes (including support to Women Development Cells in Co-operative Banks and Regional Rural Banks), Environmental Promotional Programmes (including rural habitat development) and Area Development Programmes like District Rural Industries Project (DRIP) and Cluster Development Programmes, etc. Details of broad purpose wise disbursements under Component- II are given in the following table:

Table 10:          Broad purpose wise disbursements under Component-II of RIF ( position as on 31 March 2008)

(Rs in lakh)

( Figures in the bracket indicate the expenditure during previous year)

The expenditure for Market Development Initiatives almost doubled from Rs 83.86 lakh during 2006-07 to Rs 153.62 lakh during 2007-08 with increasing number of market interventions through sponsorship of rural artisans to participate in major Exhibitions/ Melas in important metros/ other towns and through establishment of Rural Marts and Haats, thereby increasing the marketing opportunities for their products.

Component –III: Action Research Projects

An Action Research project on developing a credit delivery model for rural housing sanctioned during the previous year ( 2006-07) made certain progress during the year (2007-08). The agency has already developed three models for financing rural housing activities which  are being field tested in Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

(B) Rural Entrepreneurship Development Programme (REDP)

Rural Entrepreneruship Development Programme,  introduced on an experimental basis in the early nineties, as a means to support capacity building of rural unemployed persons to enable them to set up their own enterprises, is firmly entrenched as a successful model for employment generation in rural areas.

(C) Skill Upgradation and Design Development of Handloom Weavers (SUDHA)
During the year 2007-08,  NABARD sanctioned Rs.5.00 lakh to Handloom Export Promotion Council, Chennai for special training on international quality standard and quality control. Further, NABARD released  grant support of Rs 5.43 lakh to Tata Tea Ltd. for establishing a Training cum Production Centre ( TPC) at Rowta, Udalgiri district, Assam , to impart training  on design development, manufacture of special products, marketing intervention and support to Bodo women weavers. About 40 participants received training at the TPC and 6 trainees have since set up their units.

(D) Marketing Initiatives for Rural Non Farm Products

i.  Rural Mart Scheme

A pilot scheme for setting-up of retail market outlets to facilitate marketing linkages for the handicraft and agro-based products was introduced during the year 2005-06. During 2007-08, 50 rural marts were sanctioned with grant support of Rs 51.84 lakh. Cumulatively, grant assistance of Rs.125.62 lakh has been provided to SHGs / producers’ groups for setting up of 129 rural marts in 17 States.

Table 11 : Summary of Sanctions as on 31 March 2008

(Rs in lakh)

ii. Rural Haats

NABARD extends grant support to PRIs and PACS for setting up / strengthening of infrastructure of rural haats with a view to facilitating marketing of farm and non-farm produce in the rural hinter land villages. Basically, the infrastructure created is by way of providing raised platforms for use by the vendors and the customers, permanent  / semi-permanent roof/ shed, compound wall, drinking water , toilet facilities, parking place / cycle stand etc.  Cumulatively , grant support for setting up  / strengthening of 55 rural haats amounting to Rs 144.91 lakh  has been extended as on 31 march 2008. Details as under:

Table 12 : Summary of Sanctions as on 31 March 2008

(Rs in lakh)

iii. Melas/ Exhibitions

NABARD continued to provide promotional and financial support for marketing  of products of rural craftsmen/entrepreneurs. During the year, NABARD supported 206 marketing events / exhibitions across various states involving  grant assistance of Rs. 94.13 lakh.  NABARD  also co-sponsored SARAS Mahalaxmi Fair at Mumbai wherein 84 artisans from 23 States participated in a 12-day long exhibition cum sale  event. Participation in such events/ exhibitions  provided necessary exposure and opportunities to the artisans to directly interact with the customers thus enabling them to understand the urban market  and client preferences. A few artisan products / handicrafts could also procure  bulk orders.

(E) Cluster Approach for Rural Industrialisation

With the experience gained in implementation of Cluster Development Programme under NPRI, and considering the potential of cluster approach for rural industrialization, NABARD decided to implement Cluster Development Programme on its own during 2005-06 and set a corporate target of 50 clusters on participatory approach, partnering with other agencies, and 5 clusters for intensive development over a period of 3 to 5 years beginning from 2005-06. The broad sectors ,such as, Agriculture & Allied Activities,  Food Processing, Small & Micro Enterprises in rural areas and traditional arts like handicrafts and handlooms have been identified for development on priority basis under Cluster Development Programme.

Table 13 : List of NABARD CDP clusters as on 31.03.2008

Sl no.	Name of cluster	State	District	Participatory / Intensive	Date of in principle approval
1	Jute handicrafts	Andhra Pradesh	Srikakulam	Participatory	11.11.2005
2	Sericullture	Assam	Goalpara	Participatory	29.06.2006
3	Handloom (eri culture)	Assam	Kamrup	Participatory	02.05.2006
4	Muga silk	Assam	Sibsagar	Participatory	17.05.2006
5	Eri silk	Assam	Chirang	Participatory	17.05.2006
6	Sericulture	Assam	Karbi Anglong	Participatory	17.05.2006
7	Sericulture	Assam	Udalguri	Participatory	10.07.2006
8	Pottery	Assam	Kamrup	Participatory	24.02.2006
9	Handloom	Assam	Cachar	Participatory	07.09.2006
10	Sericulture/weaving	Assam	Darrang	Participatory	15.03.2007
11	Japi (Bamboo craft)	Assam	Nalbari	Participatory	15.03.2007
12	Sericulture & Weaving	Assam	Kokrajhar	Participatory	30.04.2007
13	Value Addition of Bamboo - CBTC	Assam	Nagaon Dist	Participatory	24.9.2007
14	Bamboo	Assam	Sibsagar	Participatory	20.04.2006
15	Sericullture	Assam	Dibrugarh	Participatory	29.06.2006
16	Handloom	Bihar	Bhagalpur	Intensive	27.08.2007
17	Bamboo	Chattisgarh	Raigarh	Participatory	03.10.2005
18	Tassar Handloom	Chattisgarh	Raigarh	Participatory	19.04.2007
19	Blacksmithy cluster	Gujarat	Surat	Participatory	24.08.2006
20	Beed (Manka)	Haryana	Hissar	Participatory	29.11.2005
21	Blacksmithy Cluster	Himachal Pradesh	Thatchi, Mandi	Participatory	26.09.2007
22	Silversmith	Jharkhand	Hazaribagh	Participatory	22.07.2005
23	Tussar silk, handloom	Jharkhand	West Singhbhum	Participatory	28.03.2006
24	Arecanut Processing	Karnataka	Chitradurga	Participatory	28.11.2005
25	Sericulture	Karnataka	Chamrajnagar	Intensive	13.02.2006
26	Natural Fibre Cluster	Karnataka	Chitradurga	Participatory	09.01.2007
27	Screwpine cluster	Kerala	Thrissur	Participatory	03.09.2005
28	Kora Grass	Kerala	Allapuzha	Participatory	Converted from NPRI to CDP
29	Bamboo	Madhya Pradesh	Indore	Participatory	22.07.2005
30	Ghongadi (carpet) weaving	Maharashtra	Solapur	Participatory	03.08.2006
31	Indigenous Pottery	Manipur	Ukhrul	Participatory	30.03.2007
32	Handloom	Manipur	Imphal West	Participatory	October 2005
33	Handloom weaving	Meghalaya	West Garo Hills	Participatory	22.07.2005
34	Turmeric Cluster	Meghalaya	Jaintia Hills dist	Participatory	10.3.2008
35	Terracota	Orissa	Nabrangpur	Participatory	06.03.2006
36	Brass & Bell Metal Craft cluster	Orissa	Nayagarh	Participatory	19.10.2007
37	Golden Grass Applique	Orissa	Puri Dist	Participatory	01.10.2007
38	Handloom	Orissa	Sambalpur	Participatory	06.09.2007
39	Handloom	Orissa	Sonepur	Participatory	06.09.2007
40	Phulkari craft	Punjab	Patiala	Participatory	22.07.2005
41	Handloom	Rajasthan	Jodhpur	Participatory	23.03.2007
42	Gota Loom	Rajasthan	Ajmer	Participatory	23.07.2007
43	Rural Tourism	Sikkim	Lingee Payong	Rural Tourism	06.06.2007
44	Rural Tourism	Sikkim	Ray Mindu	Rural Tourism	06.06.2007
45	Broom Binding	Sikkim	East, West & South Sikkim	Participatory	04.06.2007
46	Terracota, papier mache & other handicraft	Tamil Nadu	Pondicherry	Intensive	03.02.2006
47	Moonstone	Tamil Nadu	Erode	Participatory	22.07.2005
48	Banana sisal - fibre	Tamil Nadu	Tirunelveli	Participatory	06.01.2006
49	Handloom (Banarasi Saree weaving)	Uttar Pradesh	Mirzapur	Participatory	21.09.2006
50	Amla (Aonla)	Uttar Pradesh	Praptapgarh	Intensive	02.09.2005
51	Handloom Cluster	Uttar Pradesh	Baghpat district	Participatory	24.3.2008
52	Leather work	Uttar Pradesh	Sultanpur	Participatory	28.04.2006
53	Carpet weaving cluster, Munsayari	Uttarakhand	Pithoragarh	Participatory	27.12.2007
54	Rambans (Sisal) handicrafts cluster	Uttarakhand	Dehradun district	Participatory	11.12.2007
55	Handloom	Uttarakhand	Haridwar	Participatory	22.07.2005
56	Off season vegetables	Uttarakhand	Tehri Garhwal	Participatory	26.05.2006
57	Organic Vegetable Cluster	Uttarakhand	Pithoragarh	Participatory	07.09.2007
58	Handloom	West Bengal	Malda	Participatory	22.07.2005
59	Silk weaving	West Bengal	Murshidabad	Participatory	03.09.2005
60	Handloom	West Bengal	Burdwan	Participatory	13.02.2006
61	Tourism cum Handicraft	West Bengal	Santiniketan	Intensive	31.10.2007

Progress

Under the Cluster Development Programme, in-principle approval has so far been accorded for 56 clusters under participatory approach and 5 clusters under intensive approach, covering 22 States.

Table: 14 State-wise Distribution of Clusters

Name of the State	No. of clusters	Activity
Andhra Pradesh	1	Handicraft (1)
Assam	14	Handloom/Sericulture (10) ; Handicraft (4)
Bihar	1	Handloom(1)
Chhattisgarh	2	Handloom(1); Handicraft (1)
Gujarat	1	Blacksmithy (1)
Haryana	1	Handicraft (1)
Himachal Pradesh	1	Blacksmithy (1)
Jharkhand	2	Handloom(1); Handicraft (1)
Karnataka	3	Handloom(1); Handicraft(1); Food processing(1)
Kerala	2	Handicraft (2)
Madhya Pradesh	1	Bamboo craft(1)
Maharashtra	1	Ghongadi (carpet) weaving(1)
Manipur	2	Handloom(1) ; Handicraft(1)
Meghalaya	2	Handloom(1) ; Food processing(1)
Orissa	5	Handloom(2); Handicraft(3)
Punjab	1	Handicraft (Phulkari craft)(1)
Rajasthan	2	Handloom (2)
Sikkim	3	Rural Tourism(2); Handicraft(1)
Tamil Nadu	3	Handicrafts (Terracota, papier mache and other handicraft (Intensive model), Moonstone, Banana sisal-fibre (3)
Uttar Pradesh	4	Handloom(2); Leather(1); Food processing(1)
Uttarakhand	5	Handloom(2); Handicraft(1) ; Food processing(2);
West Bengal	4	Handloom(3) ; 1 Handicraft cum tourism(1)
Total ( States 22)	61

( Figure in the brackets indicate the number of clusters)

The following are the highlights:

Development of Handloom Clusters

In view of the special emphasis given for development of handloom sector by GoI, NABARD has decided to develop 50 handloom weavers clusters in partnership with other developmental agencies.  So far, 28 handloom clusters have been approved, of which 10 clusters are in Assam. Besides, cluster development initiatives are also continuing in 7 formerly NPRI handloom clusters.

Capacity Building initiatives

To ensure smooth implementation and monitoring of the cluster development initiatives, capacity building programmes are organised through NIMSME, BIRD and RTC in which officials from banks, government departments, NGOs/VAs and NABARD are imparted training on various aspects of cluster development, such as, conduct of diagnostic studies, preparation of action plan and monitoring methodology, etc. During 2007-08, four on location cluster workshops were conducted. One programme on Rural Tourism was organised in Sikkim in November 2007 for the benefit of the cluster development functionaries in the Eastern and North-Eastern States.

Innovative activity done during the year

Considering the potential for development of tourism, NABARD decided to give a focussed attention to rural tourism especially home-based rural tourism and agri-tourism through cluster approach. So far three proposals have been approved; two in Sikkim and one integrated tourism cum handicrafts cluster in  Santiniketan in West Bengal.

(F) Women Empowerment

Various initiatives taken by NABARD for development of  rural women are enumerated below:

i.  Assistance for Marketing of Non Farm Products (MAHIMA)

Recognising the importance of marketing in sustaining women enterprises, a scheme of Marketing of Non Farm Products of Rural Women, (MAHIMA) aimed at supporting agencies engaged in marketing of products manufactured by rural poor women was introduced in 1997.  During the year,  grant assistance of Rs.4.47 lakh was released.

ii.  Development of Women through Area Programmes (DEWTA)

Two of the three projects implemented under the pilot scheme for Development of Women Through Area programme (DEWTA) - one each in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa were closed on their successful completion. The third one in Aligarh district, Uttar Pradesh was extended up to March 2008.

iii.  Women Development Cells in Banks

With a view to addressing the gender issues in credit and support services, a scheme of grant support for a period of 3 years for setting-up of Women Development Cells (WDCs) in RRBs and co-operative banks was introduced in the year 1995.  A revised performance linked WDC Scheme was introduced with effect from 1 April 2007.  As on 31 March 2008, 69 WDCs in 37 RRBs, 31 DCCBs and 1 SCARDB were sanctioned under the modified scheme.

7. Subsidy Programme :Credit Linked Capital Subsidy Scheme (CLCSS)

The Credit Linked Capital Subsidy Scheme (CLCSS) for Technology Upgradation of Micro & Small Enterprises was launched by the Government of India in October 2000. The scheme aims at facilitating technology upgradation of SSI units in the specified products/ sub-sectors by way of induction of Well Established and Improved Technologies approved under the scheme for which capital subsidy is extended by GoI.  NABARD was designated  as one of the nodal agencies with effect from 04 December 2002 for routing subsidy under the scheme through cooperative banks and RRBs; and effective from 17 January 2005, through Commercial Banks as well. So far, NABARD has channelised subsidy aggregating Rs.457.625 lakh to 32 banks in respect of 202 Micro & Small Enterprises.

Table 15 :  List of Primary Lending Institutions which have  executed General Agreement with NABARD under Credit Linked Capital Subsidy Scheme