KTR demands removal of GST on handlooms

Hyderabad: State Textiles Minister KT Rama Rao on Saturday demanded the Centre to remove GST on handlooms and also decrease the tax on the textiles.

In a letter to the Union Minister of Textiles Piyush Goyal, Rama Rao sought Centre to support the textile and handloom sector in Telangana. Rama Rao alleged that the Centre had done nothing for the textile and handloom sector in Telangana. Accusing the Centre of not extending any financial help to the textile industry, the Minister said that Narendra Modi government's disdain for the textile sector, which provides employment to the largest number of people in the country after agriculture, is very unfortunate.

Rama Rao further alleged that the BJP government at the Centre did not provide any additional financial assistance to the State's textile and handloom workers. Instead of giving false statements about the Centre's help to Telangana Textile and Handloom sector, the Prime Minister and the other Union Ministers should sincerely try to extend their help to the weavers of the State, said Rao.

Alleging that the textile sector was in doldrums in the country only due to the lopsided policies of the BJP-led government, Rao included the details regarding the support that the State is seeking from the Centre for the upliftment of the textile and handloom sector. The TRS government has always given utmost importance to the welfare of the weaving community in the state and taken many proactive measures to strengthen the sector since it came to power in 2014. However, the Centre's apathy towards the sector was weakening it.

The BJP government has imposed GST on handloom products, KTR said.

The minister pressed for demands like reduction of GST on textiles, removal of all taxes including GST on handloom, provide funds for Kakatiya Mega Textile Park, establish Handloom Export Promotion Council and National Textile Research Institute in Hyderabad, set up Institute of Handloom Technology, provide funds for the upgradation of powerlooms, establish 15 block-level handloom clusters, set up a mega powerloom cluster in Sircilla.