Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari today sought the setting up of National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) in Ludhiana.
In a letter to Union Textiles Minister Dr Kavuru Sambasiva Rao, Tewari said, given the scope of garment and textile industry in Ludhiana, there was a dire need to set up such an institution which could provide trained manpower locally.
In his letter to Rao, Tewari said, "Knitwear industry comprising around 1,300 medium and small scale enterprises, supply their produce not only to every part of the country, but also earn valuable foreign exchange from export."
While this is so, he added, knitwear industry experiences acute shortage of qualified professionals with designing skills, even though there is abundance of youth who are interested to be groomed in knitwear manufacturing.
"Hence there is an immediate need for imparting training to the youth and making them competent enough in designing skills," he added.
