The Ministry of Textiles celebrated World Cotton Day 2022 by organizing a national level consultation on Sustainability in the Textile Value Chain in India in collaboration with UNEP and CCI.

The main objective of the meeting was to put forward and discuss the sustainability initiatives across the textile value chain, digital interventions along with potential strategies for enhancing Sustainability/Circularity in the Indian textile value chain.

A Co-operation agreement has been signed between UNEP and Textile committee on designing a campaign on “Mainstreaming sustainability and circularity in Textile sector”.

Shri Upendra Singh, Secretary, MoT who presided over the first session, during his address emphasisied on the importance of sustainability and circularity in the Textile Value Chain in India. He also pointed out that though the textile parks are equipped with CETP facilities, the textile industry is still facing problems in effluent management due to the unavailability of data on waste generations from the processing clusters. He emphasized that this meeting would have a great impact on evolving an action plan on sustainability which is no longer a choice for the industry.

The national consultation provided a platform for industry and the stakeholders in Textile Value Chain to deliberate on the current status and way forward for mainstreaming sustainability circularity and traceability in the textile sector.

Ms. Prajakta Verma, Joint Secretary, MoT along with Shri Shombi Sharp, UN Resident Coordinator, Shri. Atul Bagai, Head –UNEP India Country Office, Ms. Bhawna Singh, Assistant Director MOEFCC also presided the first session.

Shri Atul Bagai, Head UNEP India Country office started the meeting with Welcome Remarks, appreciating the unique initiatives being made by the Ministry of Textiles including the creation of sustainability cell within the ministry. He highlighted the principle of “Prakrathi Devo Bhav” to enable a sustainable future.

In his opening address, Shri Shombi Sharp, UN Resident Coordinator mentioned that Indian Textile industry is the very important sector of Indian economy in terms of economic production as well as one of the largest providers of jobs. He appreciated the efforts of the Ministry for initiating steps towards embedding sustainability in the sector.

Ms. Prajakta Verma, Joint Secretary, MoT emphasized it is the need of the hour to critically evaluate approaches in a world which is driven by the 2030 Sustainability and the Climate agenda. This conference is setup in the context to devise a multistakeholder approach which is a key to drive us to the future.

Ms. Bhawna Singh, Additional Director, Ministry of Environment, Forest and climate Change emphasized that India is one of the largest apparel and textile sourcing regions in the world due to abundant availability of raw materials and skilled work force.

Dr. Pradeep Kumar Agarwal, CMD, CCI elaborated the new initiative of CCI for Traceability of Cotton Bales using Block Chain Technology in collaboration with Textile Committee followed by Shri Ajay Chavan, Secretary and CEO of Textile committee briefed about the block chain enabled QR Code for live monitoring of cotton bale inventory

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