Growth Strategy for Tiny and Rural Industries Sector: Need for Marketing Orientation

The planning and industrial development strategies followed in India so far have neither achieved the objective of employment generation nor availability of essential articles of consumption for consumers. The role to be played by Tiny and Rural Industries Sector in this context has been outlined. We have reviewed the growth in production, sales, employment and earnings in Tiny and Rural Industries Sector (TRU Sector) and identified the general marketing problems of the sector. A quick review of the specific marketing problems and prospects of various industries has been done with a view to identify growth opportunities and strategies. A general marketing framework for identifying growth opportunities and selecting growth strategies has been outlined along with the examples drawn from various TRU sector industries. While this framework offers an analytical procedure for examining the product market extension possibilities as well as integration possibilities for various industries, future work would be required for deciding marketing strategies for each industry. The need for coordination between various developmental agencies involved in the TRU sector, the manner of their coordination and the outline of a field level marketing and development organization have been proposed. The policy support required inn terms of reservation of certain industries in the TRU sector, price preference, opening of banks finances for this sector etc. has been discussed.