The Union Ministry of Textiles has sought additional funds for the Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) in the current financial year, Textile Commissioner Kiran Soni Gupta said here on Monday.
Ms. Gupta told The Hindu that apart from the budgetary allocation this fiscal, Rs.1,500 crore was required for applications that had been received already and had bank sanction for the project, and also for applications that would be received till the end of this financial year. The total allocation for the scheme in the XII Plan was about Rs.11,900 crore.
Further, in an effort to bring in transparency to the scheme, a software solution was being developed, and it was likely to be launched on a pilot-basis by the end of next month.
Applicants would be able to track the application using the software.
The Textile Commissioner added that the technical textile industry was registering an annual growth of 11 per cent, and it was expected to grow at about 20 per cent by 2017. Its value was $18 billion now, and would reach $26 billion by 2016-17.
The Union Government had launched two schemes for technical textiles in the northeastern States at a total cost of about Rs.480 crore. Demonstration centres would be set up in these States for agro textile products, and the other scheme is to promote use of geo textiles in these States.
On the cotton front, she said that with cotton prices under pressure, the Cotton Corporation of India had opened 341 centres across the country, and had procured 50 lakh bales of cotton from the farmers so far at the minimum support price.
The Cotton Advisory Board had estimated cotton production this year to be 400 lakh bales.
