The last four years have proved to be a defining period for the Indian textiles industry. In the face of testing global conditions, the Ministry of Textiles, has stayed the course by introducing timely policy changes and innovative programmes, aimed at spurring growth and development across the organised and unorganised sectors of the industry.
Driven by the vision for providing all possible support the textiles needs and to create more jobs, to modernized the Ministry’s catalytic role in increasing investment, introducing modern technologies and providing marketing support have borne rich fruit.
TEX-SUMMIT 2007:
The first ever "TEX-SUMMIT 2007" was organised (August 31–September 1, 2007) in association with the industry to deliberate on problems facing it.
The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, in his valedictory address to the Summit announced (i)Technology Mission on Technical Textiles,(ii) Setting up of Investment Regions for the Textiles Sector, (iii) the finalization of Scheme of Neighbourhood Apparel and Textiles Training Institutes for Job Assurance (NATIJA) to train 4 million workers, (iv) the revitalisation of Handloom Cooperatives on the pattern of agricultural cooperatives and devising a strategy to expand market, diversify and realise greater value for textiles products.
Technical Textiles:
Technical Textiles are products used for their technical performance and functional properties. These are an emerging industry with a potential to reach a size of US $ 127 billion by 2010.
Technical textiles hold a great promise for Indian textiles industry and The Government recognises the potential of the industry.
In pursuance of announcement made by the Prime Minister, the Government will shortly launch Technology Mission on Technical Textiles to build capacity, upgrade skills, create domestic and export market and standardise product development.
Besides, the Government will implement "Development and Growth of Technical Textiles" Scheme during the XIth Five Year Plan at an estimated cost of Rs.44 crore.
Four Centres of Excellence (COE) for technical textiles such as Meditech, Geotech, Agritech and Buildtech, will be setup under the scheme.
The Government intends to create a Development Council for Technical Textiles to identify the problems of the industry and suggest measures.
Infrastructure Development:
The UPA Government is committed to develop world-class infrastructural and production facilities at handicrafts, handlooms, and decentralised powerlooms clusters with a minimum of 5,000 looms (handlooms and powerlooms) through adoption of a Comprehensive Cluster Development approach.
The following mega clusters will be taken up for development during this financial year:
- Handlooms in Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh), and Sibsagar (Assam)
- Handicrafts in Narsapur (Andhra Pradesh) and Moradabad (Uttar Pradesh)
- Powerlooms in Bhiwandi (Maharashtra) and Erode (Tamil Nadu)
The Scheme for Integrated Textile Parks (SITP) was launched by the UPA Government in July 2005 to strengthen infrastructural facilities in potential growth areas. Till March 31,2008, 30 Integrated Textile Parks had been sanctioned.
