TUFS to give more emphasis on weaving sector in 12th five year plan

the scheme met with huge success in its first phase, has seen lukewarm response since last couple of years

Textile ministry is planning to more emphasis now on weaving sector under the Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS). The scheme will come in new avtar in 12th five year plan and will include more incentives for weaving sector, official sources said.

“At the moment, the proposal is at the consultative stage and the message has been put forward that more emphasis needs to be laid on the weaving sector,” said A B Joshi, textile commissioner.

The scheme which met with a huge success in its first phase has seen lukewarm response since last couple of years as the textile industry was under slow down and hence there were not many takers for modernization assistance under this scheme.

The scheme is currently in the pre Expenditure Finance Committee stage of the Planning Commission where the initial allocation proposed by the Textile Ministry is pegged at Rs 12,044 crore.

The Planning Commission had earlier given an in-principle approval for the scheme to be included in the 12th Five Year plan.

The amount which will be finally allocated to TUFS could differ from what the Ministry has proposed.

“Without making major fundamental changes in the scheme, we are also trying to increase credit flow to the power loom and processing sectors. These sectors would get a little more attention than other sectors,” textile commissioner had said.

The scheme which was first introduced in 1999, benefited projects involving investments of Rs 2,08,000 crore. After the first allocation of about Rs 11,200 crore, a second tranche of Rs 1,972 crore was allocated for 2011-12 by the ministry of textiles. However, it saw poor response again, leading to disbursal of merely 13 per cent, or Rs 256 crore, during that financial year. The government then extended the scheme for another year, without allocating extra funds, owing to expectations companies would invest aggressively in the textiles sector. However, the scheme again saw poor response.

The slowdown in the US and Euro Zone has caused many textile companies to shelve their expansion plans as they have not witnessing demand enough for them to consider expanding their capacities.

Companies are also waiting for some clarity on the scheme and will then avail of Tufs for further expansion.