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Modi govt miserably failed to get investments in textile sector: KTR
Demands Centre to allocate huge budget for strengthening State handloom sector and also at least Rs 900 crore for the Kakatiya Mega Textiles Park (KMTP) coming up in Warangal
Hyderabad: Alleging that as the Narendra Modi government has miserably failed in attracting investments in the textile sector, it was lagging behind even countries like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, said Textile Minister KT Rama Rao on Wednesday. He demanded the Centre to allocate huge budget for strengthening the State handloom sector and also at least Rs 900 crore for the Kakatiya Mega Textiles Park (KMTP) coming up in Warangal.
KTR wrote to the Centre ahead of the Union Budget 2023-24 and requested the minister to allocate budget for the sector. Rao alleged that the Centre did not extend financial support to the various pioneering initiatives taken up by the State government for weavers in the past eight years.
"This is the last full budget of the current Central government, which will be followed by the vote on account budget". He said multiple appeals by the State government to strengthen the sector were not considered favourably by the Centre. The Modi government should prove its commitment to weavers and the textile sector, he demanded.
Stating that the government was establishing KMTP, the minister said the biggest textile park in India was attracting investments from national and international companies. The Centre has options to extend financial support under various schemes to the park, which was being established with Rs 1,600 crore. At least Rs 900 crore should be allotted in the upcoming budget for KMTP infrastructure and other programmes, the minister demanded.
KTR said the Centre should recognise the powerloom sector in Sircilla as a mega cluster and allot Rs 100 crore. Listing the worker to owner scheme and other programmes taken up by the government, he said it takes over Rs 990 crore for strengthening of value chain, modernisation of power looms in Sircilla, improvement of market, skill development, capacity building, project monitoring.
Stating that there are over 40,000 handloom weavers in various parts of Telangana, most of them in Yadadri Bhuvanagiri, Gadwal, Warangal, Rajanna Sircilla, Karimnagar, Rao urged the Centre to grant Indian Institute of Handloom Technology to the State.
He said land parcels to establish the institute were available at Gundlapochampally and Yadadri Bhuvanagiri. The minister sought National Textiles Research Institute, Handlooms Exports Promotion Council in the budget, and to grant block level handlooms clusters under the National Handloom Development Project.
Rao appealed to the Centre to scrap GST on handloom products to save weavers who are in financial crisis. He wanted the Centre to revive the handlooms, powerlooms, and handicrafts boards which were dissolved by the government, to re-introduce insurance and savings schemes for weavers, and to increase yarn subsidy to 50 per cent.
The minister said the State government's policies attracted globally prominent Kitex Group which was preparing to leave the country. Rao said the Centre's 'Make in India' will be reduced to a slogan if infrastructure and incentives were not provided.
