Rs.3,000-crore package for textiles industry

The government has offered a helping hand to the country's ailing textile sector by announcing a Rs.3,000-crore ($627 million) financial package to waive loan overdues of handloom cooperatives and make available loans at concessional rates for the industry.

"The government has formulated a financial package of Rs.3,000 crore for waiver of the overdues of loans of the handloom cooperatives of the country and also, to provide loans at concessional rates of 7 percent per annum," Minister of State for Textiles Panabaka Lakshmi has said.

The proposal has been sent to the finance ministry for approval.

Textiles, the second largest employment generating sector in the country after agriculture, has seen about 600,000 job losses after a host of mills closed down since the slowdown hit the economy in September.

According to the Kolkata-based Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics, India's textiles and clothing exports have reported a growth of over 7 percent year-on-year in rupee terms between April 2008 and February 2009.

"However, in dollar terms, it recorded a decline of 5.31 percent," Lakshmi said.

According to her, the government will implement five new schemes during the 11th Five-Year plan period (2007-12) for the development of the handloom sector and the welfare of weavers.

Integrated Handloom Development scheme, Handloom Weavers' Comprehensive Welfare scheme, Marketing and Export Promotion scheme, Mill Gate Price scheme and Diversified Handloom Development scheme are the five schemes.

Textiles Minister Dayanidhi Maran had earlier said the government would take steps in short, medium and long term to pull the industry out of the gloom.

The minister also said the government would take steps in the coming year to create one crore jobs in the sector and would build world-class state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities.

Maran promised to initiate consultation process to form a national fibre policy.

Last updated on Jul 5^th, 2009 at 15:08 pm IST--IANS