Textile Ministry gives Rs 3,500 crore subsidy to farmers through MSP

Through the minimum support price (MSP) in cotton, the Ministry of Textiles has disbursed around Rs 3,500 crore worth subsidy to farmers. Moreover, the MSP also was the reason in an increase in area under cultivation of cotton by 7-8 per cent to 100 lakh hectares, said JN Singh, joint secretary, Ministry of Textiles.

"Thanks to MSP, the area under cultivation of cotton rose by 7-8 per cent and we expect cotton production to be of 115 lakh bales. We also distributed around Rs 3,500 crore worth subsidy through MSP in cotton to farmers," said Singh, on the sidelines of 'International Conference on Steering Mature Business A Leadership Challenge to the Textile Industry', jointly organised by Fibre2fashion and Ahmedabad Management Association (AMA).

Singh said that the domestic textile industry is expected to grow at around 6-8 per cent.

"The industry is overall coming out of recession. It is expected to grow by 6-8 per cent as far as domestic market is concerned," he said.

According to Singh, under the Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS), around $ 14 billion (Rs 67,000 crore approx.) have been disbursed for 25,000 projects.

"In order to grow both in overseas and domestic markets, we need to create new product categories, product innovations and increase investment in R&D. We also need more FTAs, especially with the US and Europe, which we hope to see soon," he added.