Previous Year Question
Which among the following has launched ‘Virtual-Clusters’ web portal?
Department of Information Technology
Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
Ministry of Human Resource Development
Ministry of Commerce
Correct Answer: B
Detailed Solution
The Virtual Cluster Web Portal was an initiative of the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), Government of India. It was launched on 1 March 2014.
Its objective was to connect MSMEs located in different parts of the country on a common web-based platform, thereby removing the need for enterprises to be physically located in the same geographical cluster.
Through the portal, MSMEs, academic institutions, research institutions, financial institutions, domain experts, professionals and other stakeholders could establish linkages with one another.
The portal was intended to provide facilities such as—
Industry-Academia linkages, common application forms, credit-scoring models, expert support and networking with different stakeholders.
It sought to overcome the geographical limitation of the Physical Cluster Approach. A physical cluster requires enterprises to be concentrated within a particular geographical area, whereas a Virtual Cluster allowed small businesses situated across the country to interact through a web platform.
NIESBUD (National Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development) was also associated with managing the Virtual Cluster portal.