District Industries Centre – Schemes, Eligibility Criteria

March 24, 2023

14 min read

District Industries Centre (DIC) is a central sector scheme with the objective of promoting small village and cottage industries in a particular area. The DICs have been established in various districts of India at varying times since 1978 when it was launched. Being established at the district level, the District Industries Centres provide all the necessary services and support to facilitate entrepreneurs in setting up MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium enterprises).

The reason why the Centre came up with the idea of establishing District industries Centres is that the need for developing industries at a faster rate was felt. The economy was plateauing and the need to revive it and to shift the focus from agriculture to industries was felt. With this, the Centre established District Industries Centres in various districts of the country to expedite the establishment as well as developing industries in the districts. Being a central sector scheme, it is 100% funded by the centre with the states not required to make any contributions towards establishing the same.

The District Industries Centres help in identifying suitable schemes for development of industrial clusters, help prepare feasibility reports and also arrange facilities for procuring machinery, equipment as well as credit. The District Industries Centres (DICs) are headed by a General Manager at the Joint Director Level. The General Manager is assisted by the Manager (Handloom), Manager (Economic Investigation), Manager (Credit), Manager (Development) and an Administrative Assistant. The General Manager provides reviews which helps in evaluating performance of different schemes and also helps in resolving the difficulties in implementing those schemes.

Role of District Industries Centres (DICs)

The District Industries Centres (DICs) play a prominent role in developing and promoting industries in the respective states. They are established by the Department of Commerce & Industry of the respective state. In addition to DICs, Sub-District Industries Centres (SDICs) have also been created in various states such as Nagaland. This additional tier has helped industrial development to penetrate deeper into the rural areas of the country.

Provide assistance for DIC programmes
Single window clearance system
Promote industries in rural areas
Provide employment to people in both rural and urban areas

Schemes under the District Industries Centres (DICs)

A number of schemes have been launched which fall under the ambit of District Industries Centres (DICs). These schemes help in fulfilling the goals of establishing the District Industries Centres (DICs). These schemes are centrally sponsored schemes as well as central sector schemes. The following schemes fall under the DIC:-

Prime Minister’s Employment Guarantee Program (PMEGP): This centrally sponsored scheme under the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) was launched in 2008. The PMEGP aims to generate employment opportunities for educated unemployed citizens in rural and urban areas. The nodal agency for the implementation of the scheme is Khadi & Village Industries Commission (KVIC). Under this scheme, 90-95% of the amount will be given by banks as loans with 5-10% of the project cost in the industry, service or business sector being the applicant’s share.

District Industries Centre (DIC) Loan Scheme: This scheme is for the self-employed as well as the small unit sector in towns and rural areas with population less than 1 lakh and with capital investment being less than Rs. 2 lakhs. These small units are identified by the Small Scale Industries Board and Village industries, handicrafts, handlooms, silk & coir industries.

For entrepreneurs in the general category, 20% of the total investment or Rs. 40,000 shall be the margin money (whichever is lesser). For entrepreneurs in the SC/ST category, 30% of the total investment or Rs. 60,000 shall be the margin money (whichever is lesser).

Seed Money Scheme: This scheme is targeted towards the self-employed who engage in skilled wage employment or self-employment ventures. Institutional financial assistance in the form of soft loans. Project cost to avail loan facility under the seed money scheme has been increased to Rs. 25 lakhs. For projects up to Rs. 10 lakhs, seed money assistance of up to 15% of the project cost is offered. For SC/ST/OBC, the assistance provided will be 20% of the project cost; the limit of assistance provided is Rs. 3.75 lakhs with 75% of the project cost being in the form of a bank loan.

District Awards Scheme: To boost entrepreneurs’ spirits and celebrate their achievements and successes, the state governments have started honoring such entrepreneurs with awards at the district level. The District Advisory Committee formed at the district level shall select the entrepreneurs to be awarded. The District Awards Function is held on Vishwakarma Jayanti Day which falls on varying dates every year. The award function includes the display of the products by the entrepreneur for sale and exhibition along with workshops and discussion about the same.

Entrepreneurship Development Training Programme: This scheme was launched to impart training to the educated unemployed people and encourage them to encourage self-employment ventures or engage in skilled wage employment. Training programmes under the Entrepreneurship Development Training Programme are:
- Entrepreneurship Introductory Programme (Udyojakata Parichay Karyakram)
- Entrepreneurship Development Training Programme (12 Day residential)
- Technical Training Programme (12 Days to 2 Months non-residential)

Eligibility Criteria For Applying Under the District Industries Centres (DICs)

Loan facility under the District Industries Centres (DICs) can be availed under the various schemes mentioned above. These schemes are promoted and implemented by the District Industries Centres (DICs) and loans can be availed under different schemes with varying eligibility criteria.

Functions of District Industries Centres (DICs)

Various important functions are performed by the District Industries Centres (DICs) for the upliftment of a district and to put that district on the industrial map of India. Some of the functions performed by the District Industries Centres (DICs) are mentioned below:-

Preparation of industrial profile of the district – This helps in identifying the pros and cons concerning setting up different industries in the district in consonance with the availability of infrastructure, raw materials, labor and land in the area.
Assist entrepreneurs in obtaining licenses – To set up an industrial unit, various types of licenses are required- electricity board, no-objection certificate, water supply board, etc. These licenses are facilitated by the District Industries Centres (DICs), making it easier for entrepreneurs to set up industrial units in the respective district.
Acting as the focal point of industrialization of the district – To make strides in the arena of industrialization, the District Industries Centres (DICs) act as the focal point. From providing various clearances and licenses to facilitating loans and granting awards, the District Industries Centres (DICs) do it all.
Opportunity guidance of entrepreneurs – Lack of knowledge about an existing opportunity does more damage than the lack of opportunity. District Industries Centres (DICs) help in bringing to the fore various opportunities to help entrepreneurs. This helps in generating employment opportunities in addition to the industrialization of the district.
Manpower assessment concerning skilled, semi-skilled labour – District Industries Centres (DICs) help in making optimum use of its platform to identify the labour that is best fit for the respective market. This helps avoid under-employment.
Identify infrastructure facilities – For any area to develop, infrastructure facilities are a top priority for identifying the potential that can be tapped from a certain area. Facilities such as electricity, roads, warehouses, banking, quality testing facilities etc are identified by the District Industries Centres (DICs).
Prepare techno-economic feasibility report – The District Industries Centres (DICs) prepare the techno-economic feasibility report that analyzes the performance of an industrial product, process, or service to improve areas in need of it.
Advise entrepreneurs on investments made – The District Industries Centres (DICs) advise entrepreneurs on the various investments which they seek to make. In this manner, they provide consultancy services that help entrepreneurs in making better decisions with respect to their investments.

Activities Under District Industries Centres (DICs)

As an initiative of the central government, the District Industries Centres (DICs) work towards performing various activities.

These include:-

Registration of Small Scale Industries (SSI) units – It is for the registration of industries in the manufacturing as well as the services sector on a small scale. The registration done can be permanent or provisional.
Registration of handicraft or cottage industries – This is typically the case with villages and clusters in rural areas.
Implementation of PM Rozgar Yojana – Launched in 1993, this scheme is to provide employment opportunities in both rural and urban areas and is implemented under the District Industries Centre (DIC) scheme.
Granting subsidies to SSI units – Subsidies to the Small Scale Industries are granted under the DIC scheme of the central government.
Training for Entrepreneur Development Programme – To enhance skills, training is provided under the ambit of DICs through the Entrepreneur Development Programme.
Organization of Industrial Cooperative Society – It is an association of craftsmen and workers who are engaged in cottage and village industries.
Raw material assistance through SIDCO – This is to facilitate entrepreneur initiatives by facilitating them with the supply of raw materials.
Marketing assistance through SIDCO – The Small Industries Development Corporation Limited (SIDCO) not only assists ventures with raw materials but also assists them with the marketing of their produce.
Conducting motivation campaigns – In addition to hosting awards functions to boost the morale of entrepreneurs, motivation campaigns are also organized by DICs.
Single window clearances – To make the registration process as well as clearance and granting of licenses a hassle-free process, DICs provide a single-window mechanism to achieve this goal.
Rehabilitation of sick SSI units – To revive and to better the ailing Small Scale Industrial units, DIC plays an important role.
Recommendation of awards to the SSI units – The awards granted to SSI units are done on the recommendation of DICs.
Recommendation of loan application to banks under the KVIC scheme – DICs play an important role in making recommendations to banks for grants of loans under the KVIC scheme.

District Industries Centres (DICs) in various states

State	Number of District Industries Centres (DICs)	Districts with District Industries Centres (DICs)
Jammu & Kashmir	20	Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Udhampur, Reasi, Rajouri, Poonch, Doda, Kishtwar, Ramban, Srinagar, Budgam, Pulwama, Anantnag, Kulgam, Baramulla, Kupwara, Bandipora, Shopian, Ganderbal
Ladhak	2	Leh, Kargil
Himachal Pradesh	7	Hamirpur, Solan, Nahan, Kullu, Bilaspur, Shimla, Dharamshala
Uttarakhand	13	Dehradun, Tehri, Uttarkashi, Gopeshwar, Rudraprayag, Kotdwar, Roorkee, Udhamsingh Nagar, Haldwani, Almora, Bageshwar, Champawat , Pithoragarh
Punjab	18	Amritsar, Batala, Bathinda, Faridkot, Ferozepur, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Malerkotla, Mandi Gobindgarh, Mansa, Moga, Mohali, Mukatsar, Nawansharh, Patiala, Ludhiana, Chandigarh
Haryana	21	Ambala, Bahadurgarh, Bhiwani, Faridabad, Fatehabad, Gurgaon, Jind, Kaithal, Karnal, kurukshetra, Mewat, narnaul, Panchkula, Panipat, Palwal, Rewari, Rohtak, Sirsa, Hisar, Sonepat, Yamuna Nagar
Uttar Pradesh	11	Bulandshahr, Azamgarh, Bijnor, Saharanpur, Ghaziabad, Kanpur, Lucknow, Moradabad, Gorakhpur, Sultanpur, Faizabad
Bihar	38	Araria, Arwal, Aurangabad, Banka, Begusarai, Bhagalpur, Bhojpur, Buxar, Darbhanga, East Champaran, Gaya, Gopalganj, Jamui, Jehanabad, Kaimur, Khagaria, Kishanganj, Lakhisarai, Madhepura, Madhubani, Munger, Muzaffarpur, Nalanda, Nawada, Patna, Purnea, Rohtas, Saharsa, Samastipur, Saran,, Shiekhpura, Sheohar, Sitamarhi, Siwan, Supaul, Vaishali, West Champaran
Jharkhand	20	Palamu, Garhwa, Latehar, Hazaribagh, Koderma Chatra, Ramgarh, Giridih, Dhanbad Bokaro, Lohardaga, Gumla Simdega, Ranchi Khunti, Chaibasa, Jamshedpur, Saraikhela Kharsawan, Deogarh, Dumka Jamtara, Sahebganj, Pakur, Godda
Rajasthan	36	Ajmer, Alwar, Banswara, Baran, Barmer, Bharatpur, Bhilwara. Bikaner, Bundi, Chattisgarh, Churu, Dausa, Dholpur, Dungarpur, Hanumangarh, Jaipur, Jisalmer, Jalore, Jhalawar, Jhunjhunu, Jodhpur, Karauli, Kota, Nagaur, Pali, Pratapgarh, Rajsamand, Sawai Madhopur, Sikar, Sirohi, Sri Ganganagar, Tonk, Udaipur
Madhya Pradesh	14	Bhopal, Ujjain, Indore,Gwalior, Khandwa, Jabalpur, Katni, Umaria, Neemuch, Raisen, Panna, Shajapur, Paraswar, Kawardha,
West Bengal	10	Howrah, Malda, Jalpaiguri, Paschim Medinipur, Uttar Dinajpur, Dakshin Dinajpur, Purulia, Cooch Behar, South 24 Paraganas District, Nadia
Odisha	31	Cuttack, Bhubaneshwar, Puri, Gajapati, Balasore, Bolangir, Dhenkanal, Ganjam, Jagatpur, Kalahandi, Keonjhar, Koraput, Mayurbhanj, Phulbani, Rayagadh, Rourkela, Sambalpur, Sundargarh, Angul, Baragarh, Bhadrak, Boudh, Deogarh, Jagatsinghpur, Jharasguda, Kendrapara, Malkangiri, Naupada, Nayagarh, Nawarangpur, Subarnapur
Gujarat	32	Ahemdabad, Amreli, Anand, Banaskantha, Bharuch, Bhavnagar, Dahod, Gandhinagar, Jamnagar, Junagarh, Kheda, Kuchch-Bhuj, Mehsana, Narmada, Navsari, Panchmahal, Patan, Porbandar, Rajkot, Sabarkantha, Surat, Surendranagar, Tapi, Vadodara, Valsad, Botad, Morbi, Devbhumi Dwarka, Gir Somnath, Aravalli, Mahisagar, Chotta Udaipur
Maharashtra	33	Ahmadnagar, Amravati, Akola, Aurangabad, Beed, Bhandara, Buldhana, Chandrapur, Dhule, Gadchiroli, Gondiya, Hingoli, Jalana, Jalgaon, Kolhapur, Latur, Nagpur, Nanded, Nandurbar, Nashik, Osmanabsd, Parbhani, Pune, Raigadh, Ratnagiri, Sangli, Satara, Sindhudurg, Solapur, Thane, Wardha, Washim, Yavatamal
Andhra Pradesh	13	Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, East Godavari, West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur, Prakasam, Kurnool, Kadappa, Anantapur, Chittoor, S.P.S.R. Nellore.
Tamil Nadu	32	Ariyalur, Chennai, Coimbatore, Cuddalore, Dharmapuri, Dindigul, Erode, Kaanchipuram, Kanyakumari, Karur, Krishngiri, Madurai, Nagapattinam, Namakkal, The Nilgiris, Perambalur, Puddukottai, Ramanathpuram, Salem, Sivagangai, Thanjavur, Theni, Trichirapalli, Tirupur, Thiruvalur, Thiruvannamalai, Thiruvarur, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli, Vellore, Villupuram, Virudhanagar.
Karnataka	30	Bangalore Urban, Bangalore Rural, Bagalkot, Belgaum, Bellary, Bidar, Vijayapura, Chamarajnagar, Chikkamangalur, Chikkaballapur, Chitradurga, D. Kannada, Darwad, Davangere, Gadag, Kalburgi, Hassan, Haveri, Kodagu, Kolar, Koppal, Mandya, Mysore, Raichur, Ramanagara, Shimoga, Tumkur, Udupi, Uttara Kannada, Yadagir.
Kerala	14	Thiruvananthampuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Allapuzha, Kottayam, Edukki, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Pallakad, Mallapuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur, Kasargod
Sikkim	2	Gangtok, Jorethang
Arunachal Pradesh	16	Tawang, Bomdila, Seppa, Yupia, Ziro, Koloriang, Daporijo, Along, Yingkiong, Pasighat, Anini, Roing, Tezu, Anjaw, Changlang, Khonsa
Assam	19	Dibrugarh, Mangaldoi, Kamroop, Barnagaon, Rangauti, Jorhat, Sonitpur, Nalbari, Kokrajhar, Dhemaji, Guwahati, Rajagaon, Tinsukia, Haflong, Karimganj, Sivasagar, Gauripur, Chanbarikhuti, Diphu
Nagaland	4	Dimapur, Wokha, Chozuba, Kohima
Manipur	9	Imphal West, Imphal East, Bishnupur, Thoubal, Churachandpur, Chandel, Ukhrul, Senapati, Tamenglong
Mizoram	8	Kolasib, Mamit, Aizawl, Serchhip, Champhai, Lunglei, Lawn Tak, Saiha
Meghalaya	8	East Khasi Hills District, West Khasi Hills District, West Jaintia Hills District, West Garo Hills District, East Garo Hills District, South Garo Hills District, South Jaintia Hills District, Ri Bhoi District,
Tripura	8	Dhalai, Spahijala, Khowai, Gomti, Unakoti, North Tripura, South Tripura, West Tripura

District Industries Centre FAQs:

1. What are some of the additional functions of the District Industries Centre?

Some of the additional functions of the District Industries Centre are:- 1. Arrangement of loan 2. Undertakes some training courses 3. Aiding in the acquirement of machinery and equipment 4. Conducting Surveys 5. Promotion of rural artisans

2. What is the limit on financial assistance provided by the government on recurring establishments?

On the recurring establishments it is upto a maximum of 70% of actual total expenditure, maximum upto Rs. 3.75 lakh.

3. For non-recurring grant and construction of office for the District Industries Centre what is the limit for financial assistance offered by the Government of India?

For non-recurring grant and construction of office for the District Industries Centre the limit for financial assistance offered by the Government of India is upto a maximum of 2 lakhs.

4. For non-recurring grants and for meeting the office expenditure for the District Industries Centre what is the limit for financial assistance offered by the Government of India?

For non-recurring grants and for meeting the office expenditure for the District Industries Centre the limit for financial assistance offered by the Government of India is upto a maximum of 2 lakhs.

5. What are the documents required for getting a DIC certificate?

Below mentioned are the documents required for getting a DIC certificate:- 1. Aadhar Number. 2. Address of the business 3. Bank account details 4. Name of the business 5. Date of starting the business 6. Main activity for starting the business 7. Type of business like company or LLP or proprietorship. 8. Number of employees 9. Investment of Business 10. Account Number

6. Who would be eligible for a DIC loan?

Any applicant who is at least above 18 years. The person must have passed the 8th standard. The manufacturing project must be costing above Rs 10 lakh whereas it must be costing above Rs 5 lakh for the service or business sector.

7. State the process of getting a DIC loan

The process of getting a DIC loan is as follows:- ● Step 1: Fill up the necessary information in the application form. ● Step 2: Save the application as a draft application. ● Step 3: Get a printout. ● Step 4: Go to the nearest office to submit the application form.

8. What is the rate of interest for getting a DIC loan?

The rate of interest varies upon the scheme chosen. It generally lies between 4% to 10%.

9. What is the repayment tenure for a DIC loan?

The repayment tenure is up to a maximum of 10 years.

10. How much would be a promoter’s contribution for a DIC loan?

The promoter’s contribution can lie between 2% to 10% but it depends on the scheme chosen.

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