Abstract—The industrial cluster is not a new phenomenon. It
has evolved in a process after passing through numbers of
economic theory developed starting from Location Theory in
1826 by Ven Thunen, Marshal’s Industrial District Theory
(1920), Max Weber’s Industrial Complex Theory (1950) and
Industrial Cluster Theory by Michal Porter (1990). The cluster
concept has attracted many policy maker, academicians and
researchers as a vital strategy for rural development (economic
and industrial). Today, the developed and developing economy
implementing cluster concept as an instrument for the
development of rural small and households industries and also
for the development of communities related to these industries.
Generally the cluster concept suggests a change in the units of
analysis from isolated firms to a network of firms, which have
an advantage of effective local knowledge up gradation, skill
development, empowerment of local community, caste people
and innovation etc. In North East thousands of small and rural
households industries are operating among village communities
and different caste. These industries are based on local
resources and traditional skills available with the rural people
of NE (e.g. cane and bamboo, pottery industry, silk cloth making,
brass metal and Bell metal, Terracotta etc). Rural households
industries have been acting as a sustainable livelihood for the
rural people in NE. In spite of various attempts by the central
and state government these rural households industries in this
region are not performing up to the mark. To give new life to
the existing small and rural industries the government (Central)
has adopted the policy of cluster development. This will provide
competitive advantage to the firm in three different ways,
namely productivity, innovation, and formation of new business
firms. This paper will highlight on the cluster development
initiatives in NE and their implication on rural economic and
industrial development.
Index Terms—industrial cluster, productivity, innovation.
Rinku Das, Research Scholar,Department of Humanities and Social
Sciences, NIT Silchar, Assam, India (email:rinku.nil@gmail.com ).
Ashim Kumar Das, Assistant Professor, Department of Humanities and
Social Sciences, NIT Silchar, Assam, India
(email:ashimkd_nits@rediffmail.com).
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Cite:Rinku Das and Ashim Kumar Das, "Industrial Cluster: An Approach for Rural Development in North East India," International Journal of Trade, Economics and Finance vol.2, no.2, pp. 161-165, 2011.