Lucknow.Locus is an exploratory project and as such, secondary research and field visits form an important aspect of furthering our project goals and understanding our next steps. In a first stage of this project, Phase 1, we undertook an initial scoping exercise to define primary assessment of select economic sectors. In total we identified 5 broad industry categories that were candidates for deeper study in Phase 2. These were chosen on the basis of performance or promise of performance, the prospective impact of our analytical methodologies, and government interest in their promotion and progress. These were: handloom & handicrafts, para-education services, financial services, skill development services, and work & employability.
The scoping exercise involved desk research, primary observations, and conversations with key stakeholders. Regarding primary observations, clusters falling within these industry types were visited in Lucknow, Kanpur, and Mau. Key stakeholders in these clusters were approached and conversed with for a better understanding of the value chains and scope for classification. Apart from primary observations, major conversations in Phase 1 were held with the following entities:
| ● | Industry : Conversed with 11 key representatives from the Indian Industries Association (IIA), Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and PHD Chamber of Commerce. |
| ● | Government agencies, departments, and authorities : Officers from the following departments: National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and Public Sector Undertakings (PSU) banks, UPDASP, Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK). |
| ● | Experts and individual actors : Experts and individuals from the following areas were contacted for a conversation: Financial services, industrial finance, para-education, NSDC skill center, leather industry, weaving, and manufacturing SMEs. The 17 individuals who engaged with us were senior members in their respective fields and had on average 15-20 years of on-the-ground experience. |
In our research we primarily sought to understand the composition and dynamics of each of the clusters under consideration. However, we also sought to assess the prevalence of the application of National Industrial Classification (NIC) codes, as it is analogous to the system Locus is creating and can serve as a proxy for the reach of the organized sector in these industries.
For more information on Industrial classification standards in India, please refer to the website of the National Industrial Classification (NIC) run by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. The international version of this created by the United Nations can be found here.
