Orissa set to implement centre's handloom sector package

14 Aug '12

2 min read

The Government of Orissa, a state in eastern India, has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (NABARD) and the Central Government for implementation of the Rs. 30 billion package that the Centre announced almost eight months back for revival, reform and restructuring of the handloom sector.

The Central Government package includes a loan waiver scheme for all states, including Orissa.

The package focuses on clearing the choked lines of credit flow to the handloom industry, extending fresh credit flow with interest subvention and credit guarantee, and effecting legal and institutional reforms in the sector.

Highlighting the main points of the package, Sarojini Hembram, Minister of State for Textiles and Handlooms, said the package aims at extending recapitalization assistance to the Apex and Primary Weavers’ Cooperative Societies that were viable or potentially viable as on March 31, 2010.

About 5,861 individual weavers, 1,594 self help groups and 435 Primary Weavers’ Cooperative Societies are expected to benefit from the package, she said.

Also, under the package it is proposed to waive loans that individual weavers would have obtained from banks for handloom purposes, to the tune of up to Rs. 50,000 per weaver, the Minister said.

She informed that in lines with the MoU, NABARD has approved the claim worth Rs. 78.7 million made by regional rural banks (RRBs) for waiving overdue loans of individual weavers.

Waiver of the loan, which includes 100 percent principal and 25 percent interest, would be borne by the Central Government and the state government in the ratio of 80:20, while the rest 75 percent interest would be borne by the concerned banks, the Minister said.

The Government of Orissa has already made a provision of Rs. 300 million for this purpose in the State Budget 2012-13, she added.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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