In a bid to enhance the designs of the products made by MSME clusters in the North East (NE), the National Institute of Design (NID) is contemplating to start its centre at the Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship in Guwahati.

According to Anindita Hazarika, owner of H2 A2 Creations, a small-sized unit in Guwahati which manufactures and supplies home furnishing and handicraft products, “The cluster development approach has been quite helpful in regions such as the NE where power shortage has been a major problem. NID’s endeavour will definitely help small textile and handicraft businesses in the NE because the region has a lot of potential but most entrepreneurs are not aware about how to go about marketing or designing their goods to make them appealing to the masses.”

Besides helping textile and handloom-based MSMEs in these clusters enhance their designs, the institute also plans to diversify Manipuri handloom items to create products that are likely to increase demand for these items further in the domestic and global markets.

“A great deal of development, in terms of infrastructure, has happened in the NE because of government endeavours in recent times. If more such institutes take interest in helping small players like us, MSMEs here could do great business,” said Sona Ngaihte, owner of Ngaihte Private Limited, a small-sized unit in Imphal which manufactures and exports handloom products like shawls.

Significantly, NID also plans to set up common facility centres in existing clusters, particularly in Assam, to upgrade the traditional sectors. With inauguration of NID’s centre at Guwahati, it is expected that MSMEs from the NE will now be able to spread their wings beyond their limited geographical boundaries.