Textiles exports at $40 bn way short of FY16 target

Textiles exports for the 2015-16 fiscal stood at USD 40 billion, falling way short of the USD 47.5 billion target, a senior official said today.
"The quantum of shipments from the textiles sector during 2015-16 was USD 40 billion," Joint Secretary in the Textile Ministry Sunaina Tomar told PTI.
The ministry has set an exports target of USD 48.5 billion for the current fiscal.
Last fiscal's shipments were also below the USD 41.4 billion exports achieved in 2014-15.
Meanwhile, Textiles Minister Santosh Gangwar today said the new national textiles policy, which aims to achieve USD 300 billion exports by 2024-25, may be unveiled soon.

The new policy also aims to create an additional 35 million jobs.
Keeping in view various domestic and international developments in the industry and the need for a roadmap, the ministry has initiated the process of reviewing the National Textiles Policy, 2000.
The minister also informed that around 3.75 lakh youth belonging to the textiles sector have been trained under the Integrated Skill Development Scheme (ISDS) and 70 per cent of the trainees have already got jobs.