"Entrepreneurship Development Programme" Component of the "Development of Coir" Scheme

What is the Entrepreneurship Development Programme under the Development of Coir scheme?

The Entrepreneurship Development Programme, usually shortened to EDP, is one component of the Development of Coir scheme operated by the Department of Industries and Commerce, Government of Puducherry, through the District Industries Centre at Thattanchavady. The parent scheme is described on the department's own website as a programme "to develop coir and coir based industry, to train rural poor in producing coir products and to generate employment thereby."

According to the District Industries Centre, Puducherry, the EDP component has a two-part objective: "to provide entrepreneurship training, to encourage prospective entrepreneurs to start coir industry", and to arrange awareness programmes for existing coir industries covering modern technology and the schemes and incentives available under the state government.

That two-part design is what separates this component from the department's coir training components. Training in Coir teaches a person to make coir rope and coir mats. The EDP teaches a person how to run a coir business; costing, raw material sourcing, marketing, statutory registration and where the money is. For an existing unit, the awareness programme is the department's channel for pushing new technology and telling owners which subsidies they are already entitled to but not claiming.

The Development of Coir scheme has seven components in all: Training in Coir, Advanced or High Skilled Training in Coir, Exposure Tour for the Coir Artisans, Conducting of Exhibition, Grant to Coir Cluster/Society/Agency, Grant of Margin Money for Availing Capital Loan, and this Entrepreneurship Development Programme.

Who is eligible for the coir Entrepreneurship Development Programme?

You can join if you fall into either of the two groups the component names:

• Prospective coir entrepreneurs: people in the Union Territory of Puducherry who intend to start a coir industry and want the entrepreneurship training that precedes it.
• Existing coir industries; proprietors, partners and managers of coir units already operating in Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe or Yanam, who attend the awareness programme on modern technology and available state schemes and incentives.

Residence in the union territory is the practical test. Sister components of the Development of Coir scheme spell out that an applicant should be a native of the Union Territory of Puducherry or a continuous resident for the past three years, and the District Industries Centre applies the same reasoning when it forms an EDP batch.

You cannot apply, or are not eligible, if:

• You have no connection to the coir trade and no intention of entering it. The programme is not a general small-business course; the department runs a separate general Entrepreneurship Development Programme under its Training schemes for that.
• You live and operate outside the Union Territory of Puducherry. The scheme is a state-funded programme for the union territory.
• You are looking for a cash benefit. No stipend, honorarium or subsidy is published against this component. Applicants who need money rather than knowledge should look at the Grant of Margin Money, Grant of Subsidy for Raw Materials Procurement, or Grant to Coir Cluster components of the same scheme.
• You expect automatic finance on completion. Completing an EDP does not create any entitlement to a loan or a grant.

What does the programme actually cover?

The component text is short, but the two strands it names map onto clear content.

For prospective entrepreneurs:

• How a coir unit is set up in Puducherry, the machinery required, the shed or premises, and the working capital cycle.
• Raw material sourcing. This matters unusually much in Puducherry, because the department's own scheme document notes that Kerala, Karnataka and southern Tamil Nadu hold the bulk of the fibre and curling-fibre stock, and that Puducherry units compete against that advantage. The department addresses it with a separate 15 per cent raw material procurement subsidy, capped at Rs 5 lakh per unit per year.
• Statutory registration, including Udyam registration as a micro or small enterprise.
• Costing, pricing and marketing of coir products.

For existing coir industries:

• Modern technology in coir processing and product manufacture.
• The schemes and incentives available under the state government — which, for a Puducherry coir unit, includes the coir margin money grant, the raw material subsidy, the Capital Investment Subsidy under the Motivation of Entrepreneurs to start Industries and Fiscal Assistance to Industries scheme, and the Marketing and Publicity components such as the 15 per cent sales rebate for recognised sales emporia.

What is the financial assistance under this component?

No cash benefit is published for the coir Entrepreneurship Development Programme. The component is delivered as a free training and awareness activity. The department bears the cost of conducting the programme, and the participant is not charged.

This is a genuine and important distinction, because several of the other Development of Coir components do carry published money:

Do not assume the stipend rates of the training components apply to the EDP. They are published against those components specifically.

What documents are required?

How to apply for the coir Entrepreneurship Development Programme

1. Go to the District Industries Centre, Thattanchavady, Puducherry 605 009, and ask for the Project Manager (Cottage Industries). The officer who handles every component of the Development of Coir scheme.
2. Ask whether an EDP batch is currently sanctioned. Because the programme runs in batches rather than continuously, the answer determines how long you wait.
3. Collect and complete the application form, stating clearly whether you are a prospective entrepreneur or an existing coir unit seeking the awareness programme.
4. Attach the documents, residence proof, Aadhaar copy, photographs, and your Udyam certificate if you already run a unit.
5. Submit the file at the counter and take an acknowledgement, noting the date and the receiving officer.
6. Wait for the batch call. The department informs selected participants of the venue and dates.
7. Attend the full programme and collect the completion record, which is useful later when you approach a bank or apply for the coir margin money grant.

Applicants outside Puducherry city can start at their regional office: the Functional Manager, Rural Industrial Estate, Kottucherry, Karaikal 609 609 on +91-4368-266467; the Assistant Director, Karaikal on +91-4368-265438; or the Technical Officer, Civil Station, Yanam 533 464 on +91-884-2321257. Mahe applicants approach the Technical Officer's office there. Files are forwarded to the Cottage Industries wing in Puducherry.

How do I check my application status?

No online tracking exists for this component. Use one of these:

1. In person at the Cottage Industries section of the District Industries Centre, quoting your acknowledgement date.
2. By phone on +91-413-2248391, or the General Manager's lines on +91-413-2248987 and +91-413-2249392.
3. By email to dic.pon@nic.in with a scan of your acknowledgement.

The department publishes notices and circulars on dic.py.gov.in under Notice Board, News and Circulars, which is where a batch announcement would normally appear.

Why applications get held up, and how to fix them

• No batch sanctioned in the current period. This is the most common cause of delay and is not a defect in your file. Ask to be kept on the panel and check again after 1 April, when the new financial year's sanctions are issued.
• Residence not established. Obtain a residence certificate from the Revenue Department if your ration card or voter ID does not show a Puducherry address.
• No stated link to the coir trade. Write plainly on the form what coir activity you intend to start, or attach your unit's Udyam certificate if you already run one. A blank or vague purpose gets the file set aside.
• Applying to the wrong wing. The general EDP and the coir EDP are different programmes handled differently. Say at the counter that you want the EDP under the Development of Coir scheme.
• Incomplete form. Fill every field, including contact number, before leaving the counter.

What are the key dates?

The Development of Coir components follow the Government of Puducherry's financial year, 1 April to 31 March. Batch sanctions, participant numbers and budgets are settled inside that year, and the department has not published a fixed last date for EDP applications. Practically, registering interest in April or May gives the best chance of being included in a batch sanctioned for that year.

How do I raise a grievance?

1. Approach the Project Manager (Cottage Industries), District Industries Centre, Thattanchavady, Puducherry 605 009.
2. Escalate to the General Manager, District Industries Centre on +91-413-2248987 or +91-413-2248391.
3. Escalate to the Director of Industries and Commerce, Industrial Estate, Thattanchavady, Puducherry 605 009, on +91-413-2248476, +91-413-2248168 or +91-413-2248320.
4. The departmental head is the Secretary to Government (Industries and Commerce), Chief Secretariat, Puducherry 605 001, on +91-413-2336115.
5. Written complaints go to dic.pon@nic.in. The department's website also carries a Feedback form and an RTI section for formal information requests.

The programme is free. No payment to any intermediary is required or authorised for enrolment in a departmental coir EDP batch.