Irani provides a major boost to the NE sericulture industry

The Dollar Business Bureau

Beginning January 29, 2017, a two-day Investors’ summit themed “Exploring Opportunities in North East Region” has been organised by the Minister of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) and the Ministry of Textiles in Shillong. The event focusses on the Textile Industry and its associated sectors.

On the first day of the summit, Rs.1040 crore was allocated for textile based projects like handicrafts, sericulture, handloom, apparel and garments by the Minister of Textiles, Smriti Irani. North Eastern Textile Industry received Rs.820 crore for sericulture related projects from the Ministry.

Speaking to the media, the minister said sericulture related projects in the region would provide employment opportunities to many. The Minister also stated that around four lakh people mostly women would be greatly benefitted by this investment.

The Chief Minister of Meghalaya Mukul Sangma termed the craftsmen in the textile industry as professional. Smriti Irani stated that these professional craftsmen will be training students from NIFT campuses around the country shortly.

In the summit, Smriti Irani also launched an e-marketplace- India Handmade Bazar for the handicraft artisans and handloom weavers. More than 20 MOUs were signed on the first day of the summit.

The Minister said that there are around 715 development projects that are being implemented along with tie-ups with other nations like Bangladesh, China, and Myanmar to ensure ‘Act East policy’.

The vice-chairman of NITI Aayog, Arvind Panagariya stated that Meghalaya has performed well referring to an increase in the State’s GDP in 2013-14 to 9.7. Though there has been an impressive growth of the textile industry in the region, he pointed-out the need for enterprises too.

Smriti Irani announced that the Ministry of Textiles has recently launched a helpline for weavers to address their problems, wherein nearly 2500 queries have been answered. 

A mobile application ‘e-Dhaga’ has been launched to assist weavers in solving issues like delay in receiving subsidies from the government of India (GOI). The application will assist online payments and transactions and also help in tracking the status of the purchased raw material.

Outlining the allocation of annual expenditure for handicraft schemes Jitendra Singh said that his ministry has earmarked an annual expenditure of Rs.1,000 crore. He also said that DoNER will be focusing on the formation of market avenues, training craftsmen and organising raw material for the weavers. 

Smriti Irani also stated that GOI has sanctioned Rs.52,000 crore for renovation of railway infrastructure of 20 main railway schemes in the region.

By the end of the first day, talks focused on dissemination of opportunities in the Textile sector in the North East by the Minster of DoNER and the Ministry of Textiles, development of entrepreneurship and start-ups, and, expanding the reach of textiles through textile marketing and design.