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A Joint Rural Business Hubs Council has been constituted by the Government of India and the CII. Eminent individuals working in this area have been invited to join the RBH Council, which will cover the entire country with this initiative. The RBH is a first-ever public/private/Panchayat partnership (PPPP) to improve and refine locally available resources and produce goods to enable larger market access. The rural business hubs are groups of entrepreneurs, including farmers and artisans, working together under the aegis of a village/block Panchayat to enhance the value of their products with private-sector participation for greater market access and prosperity

CII – Ministry of Panchayati Raj Rural Business Hubs Initiatives

Under article 243G of the constitution, Panchayats have the responsibility of planning and implementing schemes for economic development. To effectively implement this mandate, the prime minister has announced a strategy for developing rural business hubs through Panchayats.

The Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR), the government of India, and CII called a national conference on rural business hubs (RBHs) to carry forward this idea. More than 1,000 elected Panchayati representatives and 250 of India's leading business and industry representatives attended the conference.

The MoPR and CII are promoting rural business hubs in different blocks on the lines of the successful Thai experience of One Tambon One Product (OTOP), by building linkages between panchayats, industry, and business to create successful business models.

To this end, a Joint RBH Council has been constituted under the co-chairmanship of Mani Shankar Aiyar, Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas and Panchayati Raj, and Mr. Sunil Kant Munjal, Chairman, CII Panchayati Raj Council and Immediate Past President, CII. Eminent individuals working in this area have been invited to join the RBH Council, which will cover the entire country with this initiative.

The RBH is a first-ever public/private/Panchayat partnership (PPPP) to improve and refine locally available resources and produce goods to enable larger market access. The rural business hubs are groups of entrepreneurs, including farmers and artisans, working together under the aegis of a village/block Panchayat to enhance the value of their products with private-sector participation for greater market access and prosperity.

The RBH aims to allow people living in communities to use their skills in manufacturing products while the government and the private sector help them develop products and explore markets, to create jobs and income and strengthen the communities.

With this initiative, the villagers will be encouraged to produce products and develop services by using local know-how. The product range will include food and drinks, herbal products, clothing, handicrafts, furniture, and other items native to the rural areas of the country. Initiatives have been undertaken by the MoPR and CII, in partnership with the state governments, to select outstanding products, boost sales, and identify products as models for future goods.

In an attempt to further develop products and boost communities' income on a sustainable basis, the MoPR/CII RBH Council will assist the communities by helping them in administration, promoting production and marketing, and developing product quality.

The proposed RBHs will be operated on two fronts: On the one hand, they will be concerned with how to enlarge the market share of the best products from different villages, and on the other, they will encourage people in these areas to eventually become self-sufficient and take a leadership role in the program.

The first pilot project on rural business hubs was set to take off in Uttaranchal state in India by November 2005.

For more information please send email to iac@cii-usa.org.