Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore   

SIMA suggests introduction of technology mission for handloom sector development

COIMBATORE: The Southern India Mills’ Association has suggested introduction of a technology mission to develop the handloom sector in the State.

At a recent meeting held in Chennai, the association suggested several measures that can be introduced in the proposed Integrated Textile Policy of Tamil Nadu.

Of the 34.86 lakh handlooms in the country, the State had 4.14 lakh looms and provided employment to nearly six lakh people. A “Technology Mission for Handloom Sector” could be introduced by allocating Rs. 50 crore as corpus. The technology mission should have four “mini missions” with focus on research and development, product development, technology upgradation, market research, branding, training and skill development.

The association also said the government should allocate Rs. 10 crore as seed capital for cotton development in the State. While the textile mills consumed about 110 lakh bales of cotton annually, the State produced just five lakh bales. The State should try to produce at least 25 per cent of the cotton needs of the mills in the State in five years.

Textile spinning was a labour and power-intensive sector. It was facing acute shortage of power and labour. Hence, the proposed policy should encourage the existing spinning capacity rather than promoting new capacities. Schemes should be announced to encourage captive power generation and energy conservation.

The government should establish a Directorate with an initial corpus of Rs. 40 crore to have Centres of Excellence for skill development. Tailor-made benefits should be provided to textile Industrial Training Institutes to be promoted under public-private partnership. The government should encourage research and development in technical textiles and extend capital subsidy for machinery. It should also announce relief packages for the survival of the textile industry in the State. It should abolish the Market Committee fee of one per cent on raw cotton and cotton waste, exempt cone yarn from four per cent Value Added Tax, and provide five per cent interest subvention to procure cotton during peak arrivals.

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