Indian Artisans, Textiles MSMEs and Weavers to Become Aatmanirbhar: Piyush Goyal

Union Minister for Textiles, Commerce & Industry and  Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution, Shri Piyush Goyal has said that Industry and Government are partners in India’s growth story & now, is the time to be a Global Champion in Textiles by taking up bigger & bolder targets. Interacting virtually with the leaders of the Textile Industry in India, today, Shri Goyal stated that in this period of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, we must all collectively put forth our efforts in one direction to realise our goals. Shri Goyal asked the Textile industry to work for achieving the target of  $ 100 billion exports in a quick time.

Thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and  Finance Minister for the decision to defer the increase of tax slab from 5% to 12%  for Textiles, taken in the 46th meeting of GST council, Shri Goyal said that this is a new year gift for the Textile Industry. He added that the requests of industry stakeholders were considered in present challenging times when the sector is on the path of recovery.  He also expressed his gratitude to the textiles leaders who remain connected with the  Ministry with all their grievances regarding raising the GST slab in MMF segment.

The Minister mentioned that under Prime Minister, the textile sector has received a new boost to achieve Speed, Skill & Scale.  He emphasized that to make India Aatmanirbhar, we need to make our Artisans, Weavers, Farmers & MSMEs Aatmanirbhar.

Talking about several transformational reforms to realise the vision of an Aatmanirbhar Bharat & solidify India’s position on the Global textiles map, the Minister said that step by step we have strengthened the textile ecosystem of the nation to fully utilise our competitive & comparative advantage.  He said from weavers to women entrepreneurs, every segment has been empowered by these steps.

Shri Goyal called upon the Textiles Industry Leaders to send suggestions for improving and developing the sector further.  He also said that collectively with Subka Saath, Subka Vikas, Subka Prayas and Subka Vishwas we will surely achieve all of our targets.

The Minister also enumerated and suggested the steps of Vikas and Aatmanirbharta.  Referring to PLI Scheme for Textiles, he said that PLI  will increase the global footprint of India in MMF & Technical Textiles. He said  Rs 10,683 cr scheme will create 7.5 Lakhs direct Jobs. He said approval for 7 PM Mega Integrated Textile Region & Apparel (PM MITRA) Parks will attract cutting edge technology, investment & generate ~1 Lakh direct & ~2 lakh indirect employment per park.

Shri Goyal stated that the continuation of the RoSCTL scheme up to Mar 2024 will boost export competitiveness. He said RoDTEP for Textiles Products other than Apparel & Made Ups have been covered in RoSCTL.  Removal of Anti Dumping Duty on several key raw materials e.g. PTA, Viscose Staple Fibre, Acrylic, Nylon is a  boost to the man-made fibre-based textiles industry, he added.

The Minister mentioned that the government is trying to get new markets for textiles through FTA. He informed that in all the ongoing negotiations with major countries like UK, UAE, Canada, EU, Australia there is a special focus on getting concessional duties for Textile products.  Talking about SAMARTH Scheme, the Minister said that  71 textile manufacturers, 10 industry associations, 13 state govt agencies & 4 sectoral organisations were on-boarded to help skill development & training of ~3.45 lakh beneficiaries. Steps have been taken to onboard weavers on GeM platform to enable them to sell their products directly to  Govt,  ~1.50 Lakh weavers on-boarded, he added. Under Concessional Credit/Weaver MUDRA Scheme, for financial assistance, Shri Goyal said that Margin money assistance @20% of the loan amount, (max Rs 25,000) per weaver & @ 20% of loan amount, (max Rs 20 lakh) per handloom organization is provided.

Shri Goyal further said that robust export numbers help us realise the dream of “Local goes Global; Make in India for the world”.  He informed that textiles export increased by 45%, to $16.7 bn in Apr-Nov 2021 w.r.t same period in Apr-Nov 2019.

Referring to the challenging times of COVID pandemic, the Minister said that we have suffered losses but we have also learned many lessons. He said, “The wise learn many things, even from difficult situations”. We have converted the crisis into an opportunity, he added.