TUFS to be finalized soon - Textile Minister

13 Sep '07

3 min read

The UPA Government has achieved significant strides in its three years of existence. In a press meet at Ahmedabad, Union Textiles Minister Shri Shankersinh Vaghela stated that major steps had been taken to liquidate National Textile Corporation (NTC) assets as well as revive and promote the textile industry.

As for the much hyped Textile Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS), Shri Vaghela assured that the process was on and it would be announced within a fortnight.

When a question was raised regarding 22-months delay in setting up of Apparel Park in Ahmedabad, Shri Vaghela squarely put the blame on State Government, saying that procedures and norms had already been set by the Central Government and the Centre has no role to play in the setting up of this park.

Among the NTC mills, Vaghelaji informed, 18 will be revived through joint ventures and 22 will be modernized by the Government. Procedure for disposal of assets of the defunct mills was also under active consideration.

Regarding rupee appreciation and the affected export situation, he said that the DEPB rates had already been raised and other benefits duly extended. The positive effects of this will soon be realised, he added.

Regarding the cotton technology mission, Gujarat had fared better with average per acre yield reaching about 800 kg, and he predicted yield for this year at about 300 lakh bales.

On the sidelines, Shri J N Singh, Textile Commissioner said that a technology mission had been set up especially for development of technical textiles. He also informed that Government was particularly focussing on developing infrastructure, which not only included construction of roads but also establishment of effluent treatment plants.

The Prime Minister's Office has initiated a programme and the Union Secretary will call the secretaries of relevant departments to chalk out solutions for the issues raised by the Working Groups formed during the recently concluded Texsummit 2007.

Raising the veil of controversy surrounding him about calling Maharashtra farmers 'lazy,' Shri Vaghela said the negative publicity revolving around Vidarbha is a figment of the Opposition's imagination. He went at length to clarify that he was only inspiring Maharashtra farmers to achieve cotton production levels that their Gujarat counterparts had acheived through sheer hard work and coaxed them to replicate the same while inviting Maharashtra farmers to visit Gujarat cotton farms for study.

He added that around Rs 40 crores will be allocated under cotton technology mission to the State of Maharashtra for setting up a textile ginning park provided the State Government takes necessary steps as the farmers there have tremendous potential.

Fibre2fashion, News Desk - India

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