Govt to sell closed NTC mills land

Rs 3,000cr raised through the sale will be used for the benefit of the industry, says Vaghela

The Union government will raise Rs 3,000 crore by selling the land of closed mills of the National Textile Corporation (NTC) in different parts of the country, Union textiles minister Shankersinh Vaghela said.

This amount will be used to rehabilitate workers of closed NTC mills or to create employment opportunities in the textiles sector, Vaghela, who arrived in Gujarat for the first time after being inducted into the newly formed Union Cabinet, said.

Vaghela, who won from the Kapadvanj parliamentary seat, said his priorities as textiles minister will be to increase employment in the sector and boost exports of textiles from India.

"Concessions will be announced for both the organised as well as the unorganised sector, but my priority will be to strengthen the unorganised sector," Vaghela told reporters at the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee headquarters in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.

On the proposed NTC mill land sale, Vaghela said the local civic body, NTC, the workers and the textile ministry will all be party to such an exercise and no time frame could be laid out to raise the fund.

"But be assured that this will be done in a transparent manner," he said. Vaghela, however, clarified that all policies of the BJP, either in the state or at the centre, will not be reversed haphazardly just because the party has been voted out of power.

"Policies that are progressive and in the interests of the people will be pursued," he said.

To a question that China enjoyed an advantage over India in the textiles sector because of labour reforms and cheap power, Vaghela said the central government will take all measures to make the local industry internationally competitive.

Asked whether the Textile Reconstruction Scheme announced by the previous government will be reviewed, the minister said, "I have to check how transparent the scheme is before taking a decision in this regard."