The Union Minister of Textiles, Shri Shankersinh Vaghela said that the UPA government had revived the Jute sector. He said this while inaugurating the Diversified Jute and Woollen products Expo at Dakor, District Kheda, in Gujarat on January 18, 2009. The first National Jute Policy was announced in April 2005 and the Jute Technology Mission, at an estimated cost of Rs 355.55 crore was launched in February 2007, said Shri Vaghela.
“We propose to set up 10 jute parks by 2012, of which four parks have already been short listed, three in West Bengal and one in Rajasthan. The National Jute Board Bill, which will synergize the functioning of various bodies engaged in jute sector, has been recently passed by the Parliament”, said the Minister.
On the occasion, Shri Vaghela said that 40 parks are being set up throughout the country under the Scheme for Integrated Textile Parks, SITP which will attract an investment of Rs. 21,502 crore, create employment both direct and indirect for 9.08 lakh workers and produce goods worth Rs. 38,115 crore annually.
Seven parks are being set up in Gujarat at Surat (5), Kutch (1) and Kheda (1). These parks will attract an investment of Rs. 3,035 crore, generate employment both direct and indirect for 98 thousand workers and produce goods worth Rs. 6,597 crore annually.
Shri Vaghela said that the cotton is the main stay of our textiles industry and with the launching of Technology Mission on Cotton and introduction of Bt Cotton seed, and due to the focused support provided by the UPA government the cotton situation has radically improved. He said, “Our production has reached a level of 31.15 million bales in the cottons season 2007-08, and it is estimated that it will reach a record level of 32.20 million bales, in the cotton season of 2008-09 and yield will reach 591 kg per hectare this cotton season. We have raised the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of cotton by 40% during the cotton season of 2008-09, a record, and so far we had procured 55 lakh cotton bales including 6 lakh bales from Gujarat”.
The Textiles Minister said that the biggest achievement of the UPA Government is to turnaround the Indian Textiles from Sunset to Sunrise sector. The rationalization of fiscal duties undertaken during the last four years has also provided a level playing field in all segments of the industry, resulting in the holistic growth of the industry. The Minister said that the textiles sector has witnessed a spurt in investment during the last four years and the investments between 2004-08 were Rs. 1,08,531 crore and they are expected to touch Rs. 1,50,600 crore by 2012. This enhanced investment will generate 17.37 million jobs by 2012.
The Minister said that the revival has come after years of low growth. Post Independence, restrictions such as the reservation of knitted and woven products to the small scale units, prevented growth, as the SSI units did not have the financial capacity for investment in expansion. Even the economic liberalization of 1991 and the dismantling of the quota system in 2005 failed to spur the industry into the growth mode.
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