In order to meet the requirement of raw cotton from textile mills in the state, the Tamil Nadu government plans to nearly double cotton acreage in the state.
Tamil Nadu is initiating a Cotton Cultivation Mission for which the state has earmarked Rs 50 crores, Business Standard reported quoting PTI.
"It is proposed to bring at least 370,000 acres under cotton cultivation by 2014-15, and ultimately increase it to 600,000 acres in the next five years," Handlooms and Textiles Minister S Gokula Indira said in the state assembly.
She said that against a requirement of 12 million cotton bales, Tamil Nadu was producing only 500,000 cotton bales. The balance was met through imports and supply from other states, she said.
"Government has now proposed to launch Cotton Cultivation Mission with an initial outlay of Rs 50 crore. This Mission will focus on higher productivity and production. Funds under the Cotton Technology Mission of the Government of India will also be dovetailed with the state mission," she added.
Ms Indira also announced an increase in the allocation for providing free electricity to handloom weavers (100 units bi-monthly) from Rs 10.51 crore in 2013-14 to Rs 11.03 crore this year and powerloom weavers (500 units) Rs 235.10 crore to Rs 246.86 crore in 2014-15.Tamil Nadu alone has more than 23.5 million spinning spindles, which constitutes around 47.5 percent of the total spindles operating across India.
Fibre2fashion News Desk - India