Interest rates in textile sector should be reduced: Minister

Says textile industry should be taken as priority sector

The interest rates on loan for small scale sectors like handicraft and handloom should be reduced to enable them grow faster, Textiles Minister Kavuru Sambasiva Rao said here today.

 

"The interest rate on small sectors of Textiles specially handicraft, handloom and cotton related agriculture should be reduced", he said after laying the foundation stone of Handicraft Productivity Centre to be built near Jaipur.

 

Textile industry should be taken as priority sector as it was related to farmers growing cotton, wool and weavers, Rao told the gathering that included industrialists.

 

If the handloon sector is to be compatible with big industries, then the Government should consider reducing their interest rates, he said.

 

Rao also said a shortage of skilled labourers was badly affecting the textile industry, especially handloom, handicraft and weaving.

 

The Minister said he has come out with a proposal suggesting a MNREGA type of employment in the textile sector to minimise the problems of skilled labourers.

 

He said skill development would enable labourers to get better wages than what they get while working in "open field under harsh weather conditions".

 

He said the Union Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Ministry should consider housing for labourers and skilled labourers of textile industry especially in handloom and weaving sector to help the small industries to sustain.

 

The Handicraft Productivity Centre to be built at a cost of Rs 10 crore in collaboration with Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (HPCH) will provide handicraft resources and a testing centre besides numerous other facilities, he said.

 

He said the industry should set an handicraft export target of $5 billion for the current fiscal as against $3.8 billion set for the period.