National Manufacturing Competitiveness Programme (i) The Finance Minister in his Budget Speech on 28th Feb., 2006 announced the finalization of a five-year National Manufacturing Competitiveness Programme by the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council. In the Programme Ten schemes have been drawn up at a cost of Rs.956 crore including schemes for promotion of ICT, mini tool rooms, design clinics and marketing support for SMEs. Implementation will be in the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model. (ii)The programme finalized by the NMCC and implemented through the Ministry of SSI mainly deals with firm level competitiveness. It is designed to address the issues of competitiveness in the background of global challenges. The important components of the scheme include a National Programme on Application of Lean Manufacturing for the SMEs, Promotion of ICT among the SMEs, Technology and Quality Upgradation Support for SMEs, Support for Entrepreneurial and Managerial Development of SMEs, Enabling SMEs to become Competitive through Quality Management Standards, Enhanced use of Design Expertise and Intellectual Property Rights in the manufacturing sector and necessary Marketing Support/Assistance to SMEs.