Tamil Nadu govt to launch Cotton Cultivation Mission

14 Feb '14

2 min read

The government of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu will launch an ambitious Tamil Nadu Cotton Cultivation Mission in the state with an initially outlay of Rs. 500 million, to boost cotton production.

Presenting the state Budget for fiscal year 2014-15 in the Legislative Assembly, Minister for Finance and Public Works O Panneerselvam said there are 1,948 spinning mills in the state, but the production of cotton within the state is inadequate.

He said the Cotton Cultivation Mission would focus on higher productivity and production and “funds under the Cotton Technology Mission of the Government of India will also be dovetailed with the State Mission.”

Under the plan, the government proposes to increase the area under cotton cultivation to at least 370,000 hectares by 2014-15 from the current 334,000 hectares.

Through the Mission, the aim is to increase the area under cotton in the state to 600,000 acres in the next five years, the Minister said.

Recognizing the vital contribution of the textile industry in employment generation and industrial growth of the state, the government will continue the scheme for distribution of free sarees and

dhoties to support this sector in 2014-2015 with an allocation of Rs. 4.99 billion in the Budget Estimates.

The Budget also allocates certain amount for providing rebate to support handlooms and Khadi institutions in 2014-15.

Further, the government has sanctioned an amount of Rs. 2.6 billion for the construction of 10,000 Solar Powered Green Houses for weavers. Each house will have an additional space for putting up a loom. A higher unit cost of Rs. 260,000 per house has been fixed. In the Budget Estimates, 2014-2015, Rs. 1.68 billion has been allotted for this Scheme.

The Southern India Mills’ Association (SIMA) and the Tirupur Exporters’ Association (TEA) have welcomed the announcements made in the Budget.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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