CSB to launch 2nd centre of excellence in Bengaluru

To boost the prospects of silkindustry, the Central Silk Board (CSB) will launch its secondCentre of Excellence here tomorrow.
Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani will launch the Centre, CSB Chairman K M Hanumantharayappa told reporters here today, adding, it would boost the silk industry which has been stagnating for some time.
The first centre was set up at Ranchi in Jharkhand.
Irani would also launch tomorrow, the Automatic Reeling Machine at the CSB premises here which will enable the Board to attain self-sufficiency and bring silk import to zero level by 2020, he said.
"The country is importing nearly 4,000 metric tonnes of high quality raw silk from China and with the establishment ofindigenous automatic reeling machines, the Board will be ableto attain self-sufficiency and bring silk import to zero levelby 2020," he said.

The commercial model of indigenous automatic silk reelingmachine has 160 to 200 ends per machine suitable for mediumscale filatures, Hanumathraayappa noted.

The machinery package of 200 ends capacity can produce about 20 MT of silk per year utilizing cocoons produced by around 200 farmers, he added.
Built by CSTRI vendors in Coimbatore, the machine costs Rs 65 lakh, and the Board would offer 50 per cent subsidy to reelers who install such machines, Hanumathraayappa said.
At present, the country is producing nearly 4,000 tonnes of 4A grade of silk, equivalent to the top grade of silk imported from China, Hanumanthraayappa said.

Under the "Make in India" initiative, CSB had been supporting installation of ARM units by private entrepreneurs to promote production of import-substitute bivoltine silk, he said.
Total raw silk production also witnessed a marginal fall last fiscal at 28,523 mt, he said.