The Union Ministry of Textiles has sought additional funds to be disbursed to powerloom weavers under the PowerTex India Scheme, said a senior official in the ministry.
The three-year programme, which comprises several schemes, was started in April this year with an outlay of ₹487 crore, working out to approximately ₹ 160 crore a year.
The official said the In-Situ (assistance given to weavers to add attachments to powerlooms), yarn bank, and group workshed schemes have had ‘good’ response and ₹72 crore was disbursed since April under the PowerTex programme. The Textiles Ministry has sought about ₹100 crore more for this financial year for this project.
‘70 proposals pending’
About 10 proposals were sanctioned under the yarn bank and group workshed schemes and another 70 applications are pending, the official said.
The Ministry has also recommended an increase in capital subsidy for the powerloom sector from the current 10% to 30%.
According to Purushottam K. Vanga, chairman of Powerloom Development and Export Promotion Council, the In-Situ scheme had ‘good response’ in clusters such as Bhiwandi where weavers produce grey fabric.
The yarn bank scheme has taken off well in places such as Malegaon, Bhiwandi, and Ichalkaranji. However, fabric exports have come down and the council has sought a special package for the powerloom sector similar to the ones given for the apparel and made-ups sectors.
It had also demanded increase in capital subsidy to 30% to encourage powerloom units to modernise, he said.
The increase in capital subsidy has been a long-standing demand of the powerloom sector. Schemes such as those for the yarn bank and group worksheds have had lukewarm response in the south due to several inherent reasons, according to several industry sources here.
