India:Govt seeks new avenues to import cotton

The textile industry has been going through a rough phase due to rupee appreciation and as this sector is a major contributor in the Indian economy, the slight disturbance also causes worry to the Government.
In 2007, the textile industry could hardly earn profits; for mending the harm that has been caused to this sector the Government has announced a package of nearly Rs50 billion.
In a recently held meeting E V K S Elangovan, Minister of State for Textiles said that, the Government will soon take a decision on the possibility of importing cotton from African nations and Uzbekistan. Further, the Centre and the State Government officials related to this sector will also instigate discussions to check the reasons behind the rising prices of yarn.
The sad state of handloom sector has drawn the attention of the officials towards itself. To revive the ailing industry the Government has decided to combine the marketing promotion programme and handloom export scheme of the tenth five year plan with modifications and addition of new components in the eleventh plan.
Mr Elangovan further stated that, the Government is putting in effort to give new directions to the existing policies so that the handloom sector can be provided with critical developmental inputs like easy and adequate credits, production, marketing infrastructure and appropriate technology.