Capacity Building in Production of Textile Machinery is Needed for ‘Make in India’: Textiles Minister

The Union Textiles Minister Mrs Smriti Zubin Irani called for a well-coordinated cohesive governance approach, for more effective programme implementation and sectoral outcomes.

NEW DELHI: Noting that many states do not have dedicated Textiles Ministers, the Minister expressed the need for more dialogue and convergence at intra-state, inter-state and Centre-state levels. Accordingly, in line with the spirit of cooperative federalism, the Minister has ensured that the views and contribution of all states would be reflected in the new textile policy, so that India becomes the textile destination of the world. The Minister was speaking at the concluding session of the one-day Annual Conference of State Textiles Ministers, at DRDO Bhawan, New Delhi.

Earlier, delivering the key note address, the Minister of State for Textiles, Mr Ajay Tamta highlighted various measures taken by the Central Government to boost the growth and remove bottlenecks and challenges facing the sector.

Stating that a huge apparel package has been given by the Government of India, Mrs. Irani noted that there is need for support of state governments in expanding manufacturing capacity and employment generation capacity. She said that only this would address the challenges of industry such as cost of power and labour. The Minister called for capacity enhancement in production of textile machinery in the country.

Speaking of the importance of branding in textile sector, Smt. Irani mentioned that India’s positioning in international market depends upon branding of Indian textile products.  She recalled how branding of handloom products by involving top designers and retail giants in the country, has led to a paradigm shift  in the handloom sector.

Stating that education of children is the primary concern of weavers and artisans, Smt. Irani spoke of the MoU between IGNOU and The National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) to provide free, anytime, any-where education to the children. The Minister sought support of state governments for the success of the programme, specifically in identifying artisans and weavers who need such support.

Textiles Secretary, Smt. Rashmi Verma highlighted the challenges faced by the textile sector, especially in the export market, due to uneven tariff and non-tariff barriers and   expressed the hope that GST will bring down input costs, give a boost to textile exports and bring in greater capital investment in the sector.