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Executive Summary
The Plastics Industries in India have made significant achievements ever since it made a modest but promising beginning. The Plastic processing sector comprises of over 30,000 units involved in producing a variety of items through injection moulding blow moulding, extrusion and calendaring.
The world over, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are recognized as an important constituent of the national economies, contribution significantly to employment expansion and poverty alleviation. These industries constitute an important segment of Indian Economy in terms of their contribution to economy and creation of entrepreneurial base. The small scale industries in India, including the tiny or micro industries and service/business entities, collectively referred as micro and small enterprises (MSEs), have a long history of promoting inclusive, spatially widespread and employment oriented economic growth.
The Plastics industries in Dharavi (Mumbai) cluster are emerged following the setting up of plastics waste management hub and thus Dharavi remains a land of recycling opportunity for many rural Indians. The workshops reveal everything from aluminium smelter recycling drink cans to perspiring bare-chested men stirring huge vats of waste soap retrieved from rubbish tips and local hotels. Dharavi with 175 hectare has more than a million residents.
In 13th compound Dharavi’s recycling miracle is in full show. This is where 80 percent of Mumbai’s plastic waste is given a new life. Here one can see young boys cart wheelbarrows filled with everyday plastic waste. At Dharavi one really forgets the word “Junk as everything has been recycled. Dharavi’s plastic recycling industry employs almost 10,000 people where melting, reshaping and moulding of discarded plastics is carried out. At Dharavi barely 10 percent of the commercial activities are legal. Most of the workshops reconstructed illegally on government land, power is routinely stolen and commercial licenses are rarely sought. There is just one lavatory for every 1,500 residents, not a single public hospital. The average household on Dharavi now earns between 3,000 and 15,000 rupees a month, well above agricultural wage levels.
The Indian industry recycles nearly 1617 lakh tons of plastic waste every year and the figure is growing every year due to increased usage of plastics in various applications and almost 60% of it is recycled only at Dharavi.
Presently government has provisionally approved a plan called ‘Vision Mumbai’ to create the world class city by 2013. The demolition work has begun in various parts of Dharavi, police are forcing out inhabitants, leaving thousands of homeless. It is estimated that more than 100 recycling units have been shifted out of Dharavi in the past couple of years due to rising cost of land, power cost. Thus most of the final product manufacturing units are shifted out of Dharavi. The units are now in work status at various parts of Mumbai like, Goregaon, Malad, Bhandup, Mankhurd, Jogeshwari, etc.. The plastics cluster of Mumbai, today comprises of big number of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises located at various suburbs of Mumbai viz, Mumbai Central, Sewari, Wadala, Lalbaug, Parel, Bandra, Andheri, Jogeshwari, Malad, Kandivali, Borivali, Bhandup, Mulund, Ghatkopar, Kurla, Thane, Vasai, Nalasopara etc.
The MSMEs of the cluster focus on a variety of plastics items including Injection molded house hold articles, blow molded packaging article, electrical conduit pipes, Shoe soles design and fabrication, plastics components for Medical equipments, bicycle components, auto parts etc in various parts of Mumbai. At Dharavi maximum work of sorting of municipal and industrial plastic waste, melting and granulation is carried out.
The Dharavi Peoples Industry Association is a representative body for all the industries situated in Dharavi industrial area and it includes about three hundred plastic waste recycling units. The plastic cluster in Mumbai is the biggest in the country where various associations are representing the plastic cluster namely, All India Plastics Manufacturer’s Association (AIPMA), Indian Plastics Institute (IPI), Organization of Plastics processor of India (OPPI), etc.. The cluster also has the unique distinction of having the institutional support from various central and local government organizations including Indian Institute of Packaging (IIP), Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT), Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Smt. Bhagubai Mafatlal Institute ( SBM), Polytechnic Institutes, etc. There is a strong association amongst the cluster across but the access to these institutes and its affordability for utilizing their facilities is available to small and medium scale units here as micro and some small scale units located at the Mumbai. Cluster and more specifically Dharavi are far from their reach as far as financial requirements.
There are a variety of products being manufactured by the industries in the cluster. The production chain / process differ from one industry to another, depending upon the type of product being manufactured by the concerned organization. The majority of the organizations manufacture products on continuous basis.
The objective of this project was a study of technological gaps in the micro, small and medium entrepreneurs in the field of plastics in industry cluster of Mumbai and more specific to Dharavi cluster. The work was carried out by conducting a survey of the industries engaged in the manufacture of plastics products by using a questionnaire form. The survey response has been studied and also, some interactions with the entrepreneurs were carried out. An Awareness program for the technology gap study project will be organized at Institute of Chemical Technology for sensitizing the cluster actors along with the support from AIPMA, OPPI and IPI.
The survey till date revealed that the Plastic Cluster in Mumbai and that to Dharavi uses very crude technology for recycling of plastics waste which needs more sensitizing mechanism as far as hygiene and work environment in the plastic cluster is concerned. There is big gap of technology as far as the adoption of newer technologies, like Automation and Robotics in the recycling industry as prevalent in technologically advanced countries. The poor level of exposure to high end technologies and the hesitation in plunging into market driven short life cycle products is an important factor at Dharavi. Also, the rapid change and evolution in technology is a worrying factors for most the cluster.
Most of the production facilities at Dharavi have raised technical issues pertaining to availability of quality manpower at reasonable salaries, product design, technical support as well as safety and health hazards of the employers in the cottage industry here. There's no knowledge of IPR etc.. The industry, in general, needs technical support for manpower training, guidance on IPR, circuit design and related issues. The cluster firm needs technical upgradation support, production improvement as well as product diversification.
Micro scale Industry associations at Dharavi are trying to safe guard the interests of their group of manufacturer’s as well as take necessary steps for cluster upgradation by way of organizing awareness programs. The industry and the association have emphasized on retaining their activities at Dharavi. It is observed at Dharavi that there is lack of interactions of industries with knowledge centres. They are running the activities without proper knowledge, non skilled manpower, age old technology, insufficient facilities as well as improper hygienic conditions.
The suggested solutions include setting up a Nodal Centre for regular engagement with the local electronics industry cluster. This nodal Centre would assist the industries in various areas of technology as per the plastics recycling, plastic processing and new product development industry value chain. Along with this, the nodal centre would provide skill development support also. The study identifies some training needs and suggests training modules for rapid skill development in the recycled products and plastic testing and processing.
The assistance in terms of entering into joint ventures with the technological suppliers would help the industries. Another remedial measure can be in the form of hiring expert consultants and forming their panel for assisting industry in terms of R&D, quality certification, etc.
Price Rs. 30,000
