Several new initiatives have been undertaken by the Government of India under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, to make development participative and inclusive, in line with the core governance philosophy of ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikaas’. As part of the above, the Ministry of Textiles, under the leadership of Hon’ble Minister of State for Textiles (I/C), Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar, has initiated several measures for promotion of the textiles industry in general and in assisting the youth, women and disadvantaged segments of the society in particular. A sector-wise overview of the same is given below.

1. Handicrafts Sector

The Government of India has revised handicrafts schemes and formulated a new strategy, which has four broad components:

1.      Infrastructure development, such as a Common Facility Centre in every cluster

2.      Development of design and training, through schemes under Office of DC (Handicrafts)

3.      Direct assistance to artisans, such as online assistance through their bank accounts

4.      Linking up with market with participation of private sector

Various initiatives have been taken by the Ministry of Textiles for promotion and development of handicrafts sector, in line with the above strategy.

·         Major thrust was given to result- oriented Focused Implementation of various programmes such as:

·         Linking craft productsto Market Demand; Design & Product Development depending upon market need

·         Cluster Level Development; Providing Common Facility Centres at Cluster Level; Restructuring Implementation modalities of Mega Cluster Scheme to make it more market oriented

·         An online location-wise directory of handicrafts products is being made, with contact details of artisans from each cluster, which would facilitate buyers to get in touch with them.

·         Action is being taken to provide Government assistance directly into the bank accounts of artisans through online funds transfer.

·         The Ministry has initiated action for supporting start-up entrepreneurs in taking up handicraft/handloom production on a commercial scale and in availing credit from MUDRA Bank.

·         Efforts are on to link Self-Help Groups with export groups.

·         In addition to organizing training by master artisans, services of firms dealing with bulk sale/exports of handicrafts are being mobilized for design requirement and training.

·         An action plan has been prepared jointly by Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Textiles, for exploiting the potential of tourism in marketing handicrafts products. It covers setting up of:

1.      Artisan villages as tourist destinations;under this initiative, Raghurajpur in Odisha has been taken up for over-all development as a tourist destination

2.      Way-side amenities

3.      Mega showrooms in metros

4.      Sales counters in major places of tourist attraction.

·         Organizations dealing with ethnic handmade items are being encouraged to develop new design as per market demand and adopt artisan groups for production with new designs along with marketing facility.

·         E-commerce is being used to market handicrafts; this has the potential to substantially enhance wages of primary producers by eliminating intermediaries on the one hand, and by passing on market information continually and easily on the other.

·         A scheme has been launched to set up three new Mega Clustersin Bareilly, Lucknow and Kutch.  Rs. 18.30 crore has already been released and work in this direction is in progress.

·         A new scheme, Development of other crafts of J&K has been launched for development and growth of Handicrafts Clusters of J&K. 

·         Programmes for Integrated Development & Promotion of Handicrafts by SC/ST artisans have been initiated in the states of Uttarakhand and Jharkhand.

·         A programme, Comprehensive development and Promotion of Indian Handmade Carpet for SC/ST Weavers, has been initiated.

·         Hastkala Academy is being set up in the national capital, with the objective of supporting the preservation, revival and documentation of the traditions of Handlooms and Handicrafts.

·         302 events such as design workshop/projects have been sanctioned under Design and Technical Upgradation scheme, with a financial implication of Rs. 16.17 crore.

·         304 marketing events such as Gandhi Shilp Bazaar, Craft Bazaar and Exhibition have   been organized under Marketing Support and Services with a financial implication to the tune of Rs. 38.05 crore.

·         20 studies and 48 seminars/workshops have been conducted under the scheme of Research and Development, with a financial implication to the tune of Rs. 3.58 crores.

·         329 Training programmes have been conducted under Human Resource Development scheme, with a financial implication of Rs. 15.36 crores.

·         37,283 artisans have been covered under Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana.

·         Work of construction of building and setting up of ten Projects like Urban Haat, Resource   Centres and Office Buildings etc. have been completed under the scheme of Infrastructure and Technological Development, with a financial implication to the tune of Rs. 4.97crore.

 

2.       Handlooms Sector

A number of steps have been taken by the Government for revival of handloom sector, giving particular stress on increasing the earning of handloom weavers, which would in turn attract the younger generation to this profession. These steps have been taken in light of the new strategy for revival of handlooms; the major pillars of the new strategy are the following:

·         Organizing the weavers in clusters and providing basic infrastructure by setting up Common Facility Centres with godown, office with internet facility, rest room, facilities for training and bulk processing in each block having concentration of traditional handloom weavers

·         Encouraging handloom weavers to user Information Technology based intervention extensively for direct benefit transfer under Jan Dhan Yojana, getting market information as well as for selling products through e-commerce

·         Launching ‘India Handloom’ brand for promoting high value handloom products with new design, zero defect (in fabrics), zero effect (on environment) and assurance to consumer to about genuineness and quality of the product

·         Promoting educated youth from weavers’ families as weaver entrepreneurs, who will get market information, produce and market cloth directly; with a view to increasing the earnings from handloom weaving substantially

·         Linking handloom with fashion and tourism, with a view to expanding the market and increasing earnings

·         Providing assistance to handloom weavers in training, design development, acquisition of looms and accessories online, supply of quality raw material in decentralized manner

·         Involving private sector in design development and marketing

Following are the major interventions taken in light of the above.

1.      Block-level cluster approach has been adopted for development of handlooms. This provides for integrated and holistic development of cluster by implementing need-based interventions. National Handloom Development Programme has been amended accordingly, to make it more flexible to suit the requirements of the cluster, with higher scale of finding by GoI, discontinuation of the State contribution, direct release of funds to Implementing Agency and direct transfer of funds in the bank account of beneficiary through ECS. A Common Facility Centre too is being set up in each block, havingconcentration of traditional handloom weavers and other areas where handloom weaving is feasible on a commercial scale.

o   Total spending per cluster has been more than tripled from Rs. 60 lacs to Rs. 2 crores (per block cluster). A cluster in the block is eligible to avail the financial assistance upto Rs.2.00 crore for various interventions such as setting up of Common Facility Centre (CFC) (including Common Service Centre (CSC)), engagement of textile designer-cum-marketing executive, construction of workshed, appointment of Cluster Development Executive (CDE), technological up-gradation, skill up-gradation etc. 

o   The scheme permits setting up of Dye House with an Effluent Treatment Plant in the district, with an additional funding of Rs. 50 lakh.

o   The Weavers’ Service Centre will develop designs for the cluster with the support of National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) and private designers and evaluate the success of designs given by private designers. Computer Aided Textile Design (CATD) centre will be provided for a group of clusters instead of each cluster.

o   Financial assistance for work-shed for individual weavers has been increased to from Rs. 35000 to Rs. 70000. Weavers belonging to Above Poverty Line (APL) category can also avail of the assistance provided they contribute 25% of the funding requirement. Such assistance can be credited directly to the bank account of the weaver, who may procure required material as per his own choice.

o   Category of Implementing Agencies has been widened to include Primary Weavers’ Cooperative Societies and Self Help Groups (SHGs) registered as legal entity and other appropriate legal entities working for handlooms.

2.      The Comprehensive Handloom Cluster Development Scheme (CHCDS) is under implementation during the 12^thPlan for development of Mega Handloom Clusters. As per the scheme, mega handloom cluster should have atleast 15,000 handlooms and funding upto Rs. 40 crore as GoI share is eligible per cluster. The following major revisions have been made to the scheme in August 2015:

o   Adoption of the Block level cluster approach on the lines of NHDP

o   In direct benefit interventions, 90% funding will be by GoI and 10% by beneficiary. Financial assistance will be released directly to the bank account of the beneficiaries.

o   Expansion of the list of Implementing Agencies

o   Change in pattern of funding and release of funds.

§  Block level CFC and related interventions including infrastructure (except land) will be fully funded by GoI.

§  For block level CFC, funds will be released in two equal instalments; for other components, funds will be released in three instalments of 40%, 50% and 10%.

3.      Various steps have been taken in order to strengthen handloom institutions, in order to produce graduates with better employment opportunities and skills to serve the handloom sector.

o   Setting up of new IIHT in Central Sector – A new Indian Institute of Handloom Technology (IIHT) for West Bengal for conducting diploma course in handloom and textile technology with initial intake of 30 students started functioning since 04/08/2014 and first year DHTT course has commenced from the current academic year 2015-16. 

o   Setting up of new WSCs in Central Sector – Three new WSCs at Aizwal, Dimapur and Ranchi have started functioning.

o   Introduction of degree course in IIHT – Degree course ‘B.Tech. in Handloom & Textile technology’ has been introduced at IIHT, Salem from academic year 2015-16.

o   Continuation of IIHT, Bargarh – An IIHT has been set up at Bargarh (Orissa) in 11th Plan, to cater the need of handloom industry of Orissa and adjoining States. Requisite budget provision to meet functional and operational requirement of IIHT, Bargarh has been kept during 12th Plan.

o   The Union Textiles Minister has laid the foundation stone of an Integrated Textile Office Complex at IIHT, Varanasi. The proposed office complex will house all offices in Varanasi under the Ministry of Textiles, which work for the welfare of weavers. Co-location of offices of various allied agencies under Ministry of Textiles in the proposed building will provide a common platform to all stakeholders, including weavers, exporters and marketing agencies. This will enable them to better reap the benefits of Government schemes and with less effort, resulting in saving of time and money. This will thereby contribute to higher productivity, income and better livelihoods for weavers. In addition, situating ITOC in the IIHT campus will facilitate obtaining of necessary approval for starting the Degree course “B. Tech in Handloom & Textile Technology” at IIHT Varanasi campus on the lines of the course in IIHT Salem. This in itself will fulfill the long-felt need for such a course in this part of the country.Furthermore, bringing a NIFT extension counter in the IIHT campus will not only catalyze the students’ learning process, but will also bring in better synergy between their academic projects and the design related activities of Weavers Service Centre, resulting in value-addition to the weavers’ products.

4.      To streamline the credit flow to handloom sector, it has been decided to take up special campaign on fast track for completing the reconciliation of accounts of Handloom Cooperatives and individual weavers to issue NoC to the concerned for availing fresh loan. A pilot project has been launched in partnership with Punjab National Bank in Varanasi and Bhubanewar to provide Rupay card to weavers for loans under the PM Mudra Yojana and benefits of Concessional Credit Component are being provided through this PNB Weaver Mudra Scheme.

5.      National Handloom Development Corporationhas opened 10 yarn depots-cum-warehouses in 12th plan so as to ensure timely supplies to the users on cash basis, besides taking care of individual weavers who need yarn in small quantity.  Location of these warehouses are Sitapur &  Moradabad (UP), Guwahati (Assam), Samudragarh (West Bengal), Kannur (kerala), Chirala & Karimnagar (Andhra Pradesh), Agartala (Tripura), Bhubneshwara (Odisha) and Ranchi/Godda (Jharkhand).  Further, to ensure availability of yarn in time as per requirement, state governments have been requested to prepare quarterly production plan of each cluster, with a focus on production of high value-added items and to indicate requirement of yarn and dyes/chemicals toNHDC.

6.      A policy framework to promote e-marketing of handloom products has been launched, in order to promote marketing of handlooms in general and to reach the younger customers in particular. The policy framework has been developed with the key objectives of promoting the interests of both producers and consumers of handloom products. Under the policy framework, the Office of DC (Handlooms) would collaborate with approved e-commerce entities in promoting e-marketing of handloom products, in a transparent, competitive and effective manner. The policy thus widens the existing ambit of institutional collaboration between Office of DC (Handlooms) and e-commerce players. 

7.      The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi launched the first National Handloom Day on 7^th August, 2015, at a national level function in Chennai. August 7 will henceforth be celebrated as National Handloom Day. The date August 7 has been chosen due to its special significance in India`s history; it was on this day that the Swadeshi Movement was launched in 1905. The formal proclamation of Swadeshi Movement was made on August 7, 1905 in a massive meeting in the Calcutta Town hall. The movement involved revival of domestic products and production processes. The Government of India has declared August 7 as National Handloom Day every year, in memory of this.

8.      The ‘India Handloom’ brand has been launched by the Prime Minister on the first National Handloom Day (on August 7, 2015),for better market positioning of quality handloom products. The brand signifies high quality defect free, socially and environmentally compliant products for catering to the needs of high-end consumers. All products under the brand would have benchmarked quality parameters for raw material quality, processing as well as for proving the origin (Geographical Indication) from the hand-woven sector. A promotional campaign for the ‘India Handloom’ Brand has been started by the Government. The campaign seeks to make handloom products aspirational, especially among the younger generation, by instilling in them a sense of pride in wearing handloom products. As a part of this, the brand ‘India Handloom’ has entered social media.

9.      It has been decided to organize regular exhibitions/sale festivals in large cities in different parts of the country, in order to provide regular marketing facilities for promotion of handlooms and handicrafts. To begin with, three venues have been identified in the national capital, where exhibitions/sale festivals shall be organized round the year, on the pattern of those in Dilli Haat. Similar initiatives as in Delhi would be taken up in other cities of the country. Cities shall be identified by matching locations where tourism projects have been sanctioned by the states, with identifiedhandicraft/handloom clusters. 

10.  To promote handlooms with fashion, a National Workshop on Handlooms and Fashion, Exhibition and Fashion Show was organized at NIFT, Bhubaneswar in January 2015. The workshop witnessed participation of students from all 15 NIFTs, officials and designers from 25 Weavers’ Service Centres, handloom weavers and some private institutions. Further, the course work in NIFTs is being integrated with handloom and handicrafts clusters to achieve twin objectives of giving field exposure to students for skill enhancement, and product development / design for better marketability.

3. Powerloom Sector

1.      The decentralised powerloom sector is one of the most important segments of the Textile Industry; it provides employment to 61.72 Lakh persons and contributes 60% to total cloth production in the country. There are approx. 24.69 Lakh Power looms in the Country as on July, 2015. The technology level of this sector varies from plain loom to high tech shuttle-less looms. There are approximately 1,25,000 shuttle less looms in this sector.

2.      Group Work shed Scheme (GWS)(Rs. in crores)

Year	Target	No. of Project Approved	Fund allotted	Fund Utilization
2014-15	20	71	17.00	16.40
2015-16	8	27	20.07	15.91

 

 

 

 

3.      Pilot Scheme of in-situ upgradation of existing plain powerlooms:The aim of the scheme is to upgrade the plain power loom to semi-automatic looms by providing additional attachments and to enable the power loom weavers to improve the production and quality of fabrics to face the competition in domestic and international markets.

 

Year	Target (No. of looms)	Achievement	Fund allotted (Rs. in crore)	GOI Share released (Rs. in crore)
2014-15	8303	8531	12.48	9.98
2015-16	30433	33242	36.55	34.18

 

 

 

 

 

4.     Tex-Venture Capital Fund: TEX Fund is a dedicated fund with a corpus of Rs.35 crore for investing primarily in companies engaged in manufacturing and services activities in the powerloom industry. Government of India will provide Rs. 24.50 crore while SIDBI’s contribution will be Rs.10.50 crore. SIDBI is sponsor of the Fund, SIDBI Trustee Company Ltd (STCL) is the Trustee and SIDBI Venture Capital Ltd.(SVCL) is the Investment Manager of the Fund. Three projects were sanctioned for investment of Rs.7.50 crore and another six proposals given in-principle approval as on September 30, 2015.

4. Silk Sector

1.      Silk production targets for the year 2014-15 have been fully achieved.The amount of Rs 297.58 Cr. allocated for the year 2014-15 for plan developmental activities has been fully utilized. For the year 2015-16, an allocation of Rs.178.10 Cr. has been approved, against which, an amount of Rs. 145.74 Cr. has been released as on November 3rd, 2015.

2.      Cold Storage for Bivoltine Silkworm Seed (infrastructure improvement): A state-of-the-art cold storage unit capable of storing 1.3 crore layings has been established in Mysore. This was inaugurated by the Hon’ble Textiles Minister on 9th February 2015.

3.      Custom duty on import of raw silk: Custom duty on raw silk is an issue which is to be decided keeping in view the interest of the domestic silk growers/ rearers/ reelers on the one hand and the need of the silk weavers on the other hand. The decision for reducing the basic custom duty on raw silk from 15% to 10% was taken, keeping in view the request of silk weavers for getting better quality silk yarn and to protect our domestic twisters, weavers and other stakeholders along the value chain.

4.      Catalytic Development Programme is the foremost programme of the Govt. of India for the development of Sericulture in India. From the current Financial Year 2015-16, a Single Scheme with the title “Integrated Scheme for Development of Silk Industry”  has been formulated for clubbing all the above Central Sector Schemes and one Centrally Sponsored Scheme.

 

5.     Cotton Sector

1.      To safeguard interests of domestic cotton growers, a well-planned, largest ever Minimum Support Price operation was carried out by the Cotton Corporation of India in the 2014-2015 cotton season, in all 11 cotton producing states. This operation was highly successful, with procurement crossing 86 lakh bales up to 30thMarch 2015.

2.      Online payment directly to the account of cotton farmers has been taken up in Andhra Pradesh, in consultation with the state Government. This initiative would be extended to other states in phases to ensure payment of right sale proceeds in time.

3.      The MSP for Medium Staple Cotton has been raised to Rs. 3800 per quintal and for Long Staple Cotton has been raised to Rs. 4100 per quintal respectively for the cotton season 2015-16.

4.      During cotton season 2014-15, India became number one in terms of area under cotton cultivation, with a cultivated area of 129.71 lakh hectares as against 117.27 lakh hectares in 2013-14.

5.      For the cotton season 2015-16, CCI alongwith respective State Govts. has made arrangements for meeting any eventuality of MSP operations in all the cotton growing States, to avoid distress sale by the cotton farmers. CCI operates more than 340 procurement centres all over the country under MSP during 2015-16 across 92 District in 11 Cotton growing States in the country. As on 16.10.2015, 6.19 lakh bales arrived for cotton season 2015-16. Out of these, 307 bales have been procured by CCI under MSP operations.

6.      Special initiatives taken for possible MSP operations during cottonseason 2015-16 for the benefit of farmers:

(a) Direct online payment to farmers

(b) Bar coded cards for farmers (in Telangana)

(c) IEC activities to sensitize about moisture limits, not bringing kapas in jute bags to avoid contaminations.

7.      For making the sales system more transparent and market driven, CCI commenced the sale of FP cotton bales through e-Auction.

8.      CCI undertook 700 nos. Contract Farming with FLD programme for betterment of yield/ quality of cotton in backward areas in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. There has been significant increase in profitability in these areas, mainly due to improvement in yield/quality, reduction in cost of cultivation and higher price realization.

9.      India hosted the International Cotton Advisory Committee Plenary Meeting in Mumbai from December 6-11, 2015, after a gap of eleven years. Organized by the Office of the Textiles Commissioner, Mumbai along with Cotton Corporation of India, Cotton Association of India and the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry, the 74th Plenary meeting was organized under the theme “From Farm to Fabric: The Many Faces of Cotton”. The Plenary Meeting of ICAC provides a forum for discussion of international issues of importance to the world cotton industry, and provide opportunities for industry and government leaders to consult on matters of mutual concern. Around 500 delegates from 36 countries participated in the Mumbai Plenary.

10.  A pilot project under the Direct Payment Deficiency System (DPDS) for paying MSP guarantee for the cotton farmers has been initiated at Hinganghat taluka of Maharashtra. Under this system, the farmers will directly get the amount which is the difference between the Minimum Support Price (MSP) and the market price, should the market price fall below the MSP. For availing of the benefit, farmers would have to present proof of cotton sold at Agriculture Produce Market Committee yards, plus other papers such as ownership document, yield estimation and other details. If the pilot is successful, the DPDS would be rolled out in all cotton growing regions. 

 

6.     Wool Sector

During financial year 2014-15, the Central Wool Development Board, Jodhpur (CWDB) has implemented different schemes for development of Wool Sector and scheme-wise following achievements were made:

1.      Pashmina Promotion Programme (P-3) has been launched in Ladakh region as a supplementary programme for Pashmina wool development, with total financial outlay of Rs. 19.12 crore. The foundation stone of Pashmina Dehairing Plant building at Leh was laid by Union Textiles Minister.

2.      ‘Sheep & Wool Improvement Scheme’ (SWIS) has benefited 18 lakh sheep under different ongoing projects and covered 21 lakh new sheep against target of total 28 lakh sheep.

3.      Pashmina Wool Development Scheme (PWDS) has benefited 800 families and 2 lakh pashmina goat in Leh and Kargil districts.

4.      Angora Wool Development scheme in Himachal Pradesh and Manipur has covered 1,200 angora rabbits under ongoing projects.

5.      Projects have been sanctioned to different wool producing states in order to procure 46 Sheep Shearing machines under Quality Processing of Wool scheme.

 

7.     Jute Sector

1.      To safeguard interests of producers and manufacturers of jute and jute products estimated at about 4.35 million families, the Government in January 2015, approved orders for mandatory packaging of food grains in jute bags and subsidy to Jute Corporation of India to support MSP operations in jute. The validity of the order was later extended up to 31.12.2015.

2.      Minimum Support Price (MSP) for raw jute and mesta is fixed every year to encourage farmers to grow more jute.  It has been fixed at Rs.2700 per quintal for 2015-16, marking an increase of 12.5% over 2014-15. The Jute Corporation of India is supported by the Government with a subsidy of Rs.204 crore for meeting the operational expenditure for four years starting 2014-15, in preparedness for Minimum Support Price (MSP) operations at the start of every year.

3.      The Ministry is in constant touch with various stakeholders, including consumers and state Governments, for promoting more usage of value-added diversified products, development of higher technology products and to expedite the use of assets with state-owned jute mills. Multiple review meetings were held by the Union Textiles Minister with various stakeholders in this regard.

4.      Jute Common Facility Centres: Jute Common Facility Centres (CFCs) scheme has been launched on 1.9.2015 for providing avenues for value addition, production, quality assurance through construction facility, direct support to members, integrated design, product development, training and market development etc. Five Common Facility Centre (CFC) are sanctioned at the five locations in West Bengal (3), Assam (1) and Bihar (1) in major jute growing district.  An amount of Rs.10 crore has been allocated for 2015-16.

5.      Jute Geotextiles:- For promotion of large scale use of Jute Geotextiles for control of erosion, road construction, river embankments and in slope stabilization, major Government Departments and State Governments are advised to promote use of jute as geo-textiles.  Special scheme for promotion of Geo-Textiles has been launched in the North Eastern States on 24.3.2015 with an outlay of Rs.427 crores.

6.      Asset Utilisation and Revival of Jute Mills of NJMC: The National Jute Manufacturers Corporation Limited (NJMC) was formed in 1980 by the nationalization and amalgamation of the following six jute undertakings:National Company Limited—Sankrail, Alexandra Jute Mills Limited—Jagaddal, Union Jute Company Limited—Sealdah,Khardah Company Limited—Titagarh,The Kinnison Jute Mills Company Ltd—Titagarh andRBHM Jute Mills Pvt., Limited—Katihar, Bihar.  In view of continuous cash loss and complete erosion of net worth, NJMC was declared sick by the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR). The proposal for the revival of NJMC was approved by the Cabinet with the directions to close three mills (National, Alexandra & Union in West Bengal), and to monetise the closed mills through sale of assets. However, as the sale of asset without converting the land use from factory/ industry to residential/commercial use, would not give adequate returns, a Transaction Advisor (Price Waterhouse Coopers Ltd.)  was appointed to explore various options for monetisation.  Based on the draft report of PWC, it is proposed to develop  a garment park at Union mill, on the lines of Paridhaan Garment Park set up by WBIDC and also for setting up Integrated Textile Parks with developed industrial sheds at the Alexandra and National mills, through a joint venture with NBCC or another PSU. This initiative will help in expanding textile industry and also serve to generate employment, apart from monetisation of the assets.

7.      A strategy has been formulated by the Government to address the price rise of raw jute. Hon’ble Minister for Textiles, Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar chaired a meeting with the stakeholders on the 23rd November, 2015 to evolve a suitable strategy for stabilizing the raw jute market and for tackling the situation of rise in the price of raw jute. After discussion, a three-pronged strategy has been formulated by the Government:

o   Stock limits, de-hoarding operations: Jute Commissioner has been requested to take appropriate measures for notifying stock limits for raw jute for balers, traders and millers and to undertake de-hoarding measures with the help of State Governments, so that jute produced during the season becomes available for jute mills for continuing their production, as was last done in 2005. 

o   Lifting of export ban by Bangladesh: Department of Commerce and Ministry of External Affairs have been requested to take up the matter with their counterparts in Republic of Bangladesh for lifting the ban on export of raw jute by Bangladesh.

o   Promoting jute cultivation: Appropriate long-term measures shall be taken by the State Governments and Department of Agriculture, Government of India for encouraging jute cultivation and checking its declining trend.

 

8.     Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS)

1.      Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) has been continued for the 12^th Plan (2012-17) under Revised Restructured TUFS (RR- TUFS) with a budgetary allocation of Rs. 11952.80 crore. The major focus of the scheme under 12th Plan is Modernization of Powerloom Sector. The subsidy rate under RR-TUFS for brand new shuttle-less loom is 6% Interest Reimbursement (IR) +15% Capital Subsidy (CS) (in place of 5% IR+10%CS) and the Margin Money Subsidy (MMS) for MSME units has been increased to 30% from 20% in case of brand new shuttle-less looms; for ‘other’ sectors the subsidy benefit continues to be same as in R-TUFS, except for ‘standalone spinning’ and second-hand imported shuttle-less looms, in which case the benefit has been reduced from 5% to 2%. Besides, 10 % of approved outlay for new sanctions has been earmarked for MSME sector.

2.      The scheme, since its inception, has propelled investment of more than Rs.2,71,480 crore till date and an amount of Rs.21,346.91crore has been released towards subsidy under the Scheme. An allocation of Rs. 1520.79 crore has been made under the scheme during 2015-16 out of which Rs. 882.49 crore has been disbursed till 30.09.2015.

9.     Scheme for Integrated Textile Parks

1.      72 Textiles Park projects have been approved so far in 10^th, 11^th& 12^th Five Year Plans. 20 new textile parks have been sanctioned in FY 2014 – 2015, for facilitating investment up to Rs. 4,500 crore and generating employment for 66,000 people. Three new textile parks have been sanctioned in FY 2015 – 2016.

2.      The scheme, which is being implemented in Public Private Partnership mode, has been reoriented to promote industrialization.

3.      Matter for income tax holiday and service tax exemption under SITP and for Mini Integrated Textile Park Scheme is being taken up with Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance.

4.      Proposal of Re-engineering of SITP to include Uttarakhand State IDC to set up Textile Park is under consideration.

 

10.   Integrated Processing Development Scheme (IPDS)

1.      The Ministry targets to sanction 10-15 green field and brown field projects during 2015-16 depending upon the availability of budget. States like Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Gujarat where many existing processing units are facing closure due to court orders may be requested to expedite the proposals, along with their commitment to share 25% of the project cost and also to ensure that the proposal is approved by the State PCBs or IITs for effectiveness of the proposed technological intervention.

2.      Technical Research Associations (TRAs) under Ministry of Textiles have been requested to give specific attention to R&D projects for developing cost effective processing techniques to minimise water consumption and effluent generation while formulating their revised plan for the current year 2015-16 and subsequent years. They have also been asked to adopt 2-3 industrial units for pilot study of their Research project on Pollution Control in collaboration with IIT Delhi, IIT Madras and IIT Bombay.

 

11.   Integrated Skill Development Scheme (ISDS)

To mark the occasion of Good Governance Day, on 25^th December, 2014, the ISDS has been scaled up during the 12^th Plan with an allocation of Rs. 1,900 crore to train 15 lakh persons. To meet the needs of the industry for a skilled workforce and thereby support its competitiveness, the Ministry has trained 3.75 lakh youth in textile trades, particularly in the rapidly growing garmenting segment of the industry. The major achievements during the last year are the following:

Industry oriented Training programmes: 

·         Course curriculum /  training contents  have been  standardized in consultation with industry partners

·         Resource Support Agency (RSA) has been appointed for development and standardization of course curriculum and assessment protocols.

·         Industry has been directly involved in imparting trainings.

Emphasis on employment generation:

·         Placement in industry is the major yardstick of the scheme. Minimum 70% of trainees in a batch shall be placed in wage employment with minimum wage prescribed for his /her skill category.

·         Emphasis is on making a non-worker a worker.

·         Target group will be preferably jobseekers amongst the rural youth, having educational qualification preferably below 10+ 2 standard.

 

Robust monitoring Mechanism through e- initiatives:

·         A web based centralized Management Information System (MIS) for monitoring all aspects of training program has been launched.

·         Bio-metric attendance of trainees has been made compulsory.

·         Aadhaar platform has been introduced in MIS for better identification of trainees and avoid duplicity in trainings.

·         Payment to the Implementing Agencies has been linked to the progress on MIS and system generated reports.

·         Time to time physical inspections by Regional offices of Textile Commissioners has been instituted.

·         Introduction of web enabled online certificate generation on successful assessment of the trainee has been made.

 

During 2014-‘15, Tamil Nadu, Manipur, Mizoram, Odisha, West Bengal, Tripura, Haryana, Goa, Telangana, Karnataka, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh have been sanctioned projects under ISDS. During 2015-‘16, Punjab has been sanctioned project under ISDS.

 

A National Workshop on Integrated Skill Development Scheme was held by the Ministry, in August 2015, to share best practices, gather feedback and improve the implementation of the scheme.

 

12.   North Eastern Region Textiles Promotion Scheme (NERTPS)

A landmark initiative under NERTPS for construction of Apparel and Garment manufacturing Centres in the NE States was launched in 2014, with the announcement of Hon’ble Prime Minister on 1st December 2014 in Nagaland. The objective of the scheme is to promote employment in the NE States and encourage entrepreneurship especially amongst women, in the area of garmenting which has a huge potential both within the country and abroad.

 

Accordingly, foundation stone have been laid by Hon’ble Textiles Minister, for Apparel and Garment Making Centres in each of the seven states in the North Eastern Region. Work on the centres has commenced and is nearing completion in some states.

 

Each Apparel and Garment Making Centre set up under the initiative is estimated to generate direct employment for 1,200 people.

 

Each state will have one centre with three units, each having 100 machines. For local entrepreneurs with requisite background, required facilities to start a unit will be provided in ‘plug and play’ mode. Once such entrepreneurs get established, they can set up their own units, allowing the facility to be provided to new entrepreneurs. 

The project will be fully funded by the Ministry of Textiles, with an estimated expense of Rs. 18.18 crores for each state. The initiative comes under the North East Region Textile Promotion Scheme (NERTPS) of the Ministry of Textiles. NERTPS is an umbrella scheme for the development of various segments of textiles, i.e. silk, handlooms, handicrafts and apparels & garments. The scheme has a total outlay of Rs. 1038.10 crore in the 12th Five Year Plan. 

 

Besides this, a scheme to promote Geotechnical Textiles in North East Region has been launched by the Textiles Minister in Imphal on 24^th March, 2015. Two sericulture schemes - Phase II of Sericulture Project for Valley Districts of Manipur and Integrated Sericulture Development Project for Hill Districts of Manipur – were also launched by the Textiles Minister on the same day in Imphal. The Minister also laid the foundation stone for a powerloom estate in Imphal West on the occasion.

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                 DJM