Budget 2020-21 proposes National Technical Textile Mission at ₹ 1,480-cr outlay

About ₹27,300 crore has been provided for development and promotion of industry and commerce, says Ms. Sitharaman

Employees work inside a textile mill of Orient Craft Ltd. at Gurgaon in Haryana, northern India April 16, 2014. When Narendra Modi talks about creating jobs in labour-intensive manufacturing, textile entrepreneur Sudhir Dhingra hopes the Indian opposition leader means business. Dhingra, who employs 30,000 workers in more than 20 factories around the capital New Delhi, says that politicians - for all their promises - have shown no interest in acting to avert a looming employment crisis. Early on, Dhingra survived a change of fashion that saddled him with a pile of unsold stock. Learning his lessons - to keep close tabs on the market and control costs - he built Orient Craft into $250 million business making 200,000 garments daily. Picture taken April 16, 2014. REUTERS/Anindito Mukherjee (INDIA - Tags: BUSINESS POLITICS ELECTIONS EMPLOYMENT TEXTILE)

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday proposed National Technical Textile Mission with an outlay of ₹1,480 crore over four years to cut down imports.

Presenting the Budget for 2020-21 , Ms. Sitharaman said as much as ₹27,300 crore has been provided for development and promotion of industry and commerce.

The Finance Minister also said digital refund of duties and taxes of centre, states and local bodies to exporters will be allowed from this year.

On infrastructure, she said the government plans to set up project preparation facilities for infrastructure sector and a national logistic policy will come up soon.

Ms. Sitharaman noted that a ₹103 lakh crore infra project pipeline has been launched in December.

Delhi-Mumbai Expressway will be completed by 2023 and Chennai-Bengaluru Expressway will be launched, the minister added.

She also said 550 wi-fi facilities have been commissioned at railway stations.