CII launches cluster development for Godrej Interio, vendors

Dehradun: The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has launched a cluster development programme for Godrej Interio and its six vendors in the industrial town of Bhagwanpur in Haridwar district of Uttarakhand. The aim of the programme is to increase business output and improve quality.

Besides giving a push to their business, the companies participating in the cluster development programme will also seek to introduce innovations, improve the inventory-turnover ratio, space utilisation and delivery schedules, as well as reduce energy consumption.

Apple Industries, B K Canworks, Start Seating System, Savitan Living Concepts, Securipax Packaging and Godrej and Boyce Interio Division (Bhagwanpur plant) are the six small companies supplying various components to Godrej Interio’s Bhagwanpur plant, which manufactures only chairs.

The plant, which produces 600,000 chairs a year, now intends to introduce desks for office use from next year, Anil S Mathur, chief operating officer of Godrej Interio, said. The plant was set up two years ago with an initial investment of Rs 20 crore.

Godrej Interio plans to increase its sales turnover to Rs 5,000 crore by 2016-17, based on 20-25 per cent year-on-year growth, and has pinned its hopes on the cluster development programme. The present turnover of the company is Rs 1,500 crore.

“We want to increase our business by three-to-four times and the cluster development is a very good opportunity for our company to increase our business and improve quality,” said Mathur.

“This is the first cluster development programme that CII has launched with the help of our consultants in Uttarakhand. And we are hopeful that this programme will also inspire other companies to replicate the model for future improvements,” said Sandip Jain, vice chairman of CII Uttarakhand.

So far, 208 clusters of SMEs have been formed by CII all over India, according to Harinder Jeet Singh, principal counsellor at the CII-Avantha Centre for Competitiveness. “Getting together, learning together and achieving together is our approach,” Singh said.

Green-building council launches rating system

Hyderabad: The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) have launched LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) 2011 Green Building Rating System for India, signifying a milestone in the green-building movement in India.

Mr Prem C. Jain, Chairman of the Indian council, Ms Lynn Bellenger, President, ASHRAE, Mr Mark MacCracken, Chair of the US Green Building Council , and the board of directors launched the LEED 2011 initiative, according to a statement from CII-IGBC.

The LEED-India, which was launched in 2007, received overwhelming response from the industry. Based on the feedback and experiences of its implementation, the rating system has now been upgraded and called LEED 2011 for India.

With these proposals, LEED 2011 seeks to enhance awareness in energy and water-efficiency baselines, promotes naturally ventilated buildings and encourages passive technologies. It also seeks to align with local regulations and standards, apart from adopting latest standards.

According to CII-IGBC, India has over 995 registered green-building projects with a total footprint of 606 million sq. ft. With this, India is among the top three countries to have a large green-building footprint. This has largely been possible because of the involvement of stakeholders of the building sector — architects, builders, developers, manufacturers and consultants.

The rating system of IGBC covers homes, commercial interiors, factory buildings, schools, special economic zones and townships.

Mr S. Raghupathy, Senior Director and Head of CII-Godrej GBC, said the launch of LEED 2011 green-buildings rating system would pave way for design and construction of some of the best green buildings in India.