Tweaks policy to include man-made fibre sector
Post hue and cry as well as representations from the Surat based synthetic textile industry, the state government has tweaked the proposed textile policy to include the man-made fibre segment. With the draft policy almost ready, Gujarat government is set to release the same by next month, inviting suggestions from stakeholders.
"We received a lot of representations from the Surat-based synthetic textile players and therefore we have now decided not to focus on cotton based verticals like spinning alone. The textile policy will now be an integrated approach for sustainable growth of the entire industry in Gujarat," said a senior government official privy to the information.
Recently, Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi had announced a new textile policy at a function in Surat. In his announcement, Modi had said that the policy will look to make Gujarat a hub for spinning sector.
Talking further about the draft policy, the official stated that while currently Gujarat contributes around 16-18 per cent of overall textile industry, the effort is to increase the share.
"We are aiming at a total organised and unorganised contribution of 30 per cent from Gujarat to the overall textile industry. For this we will be focusing a lot on increasing efficiency of the existing as well as upcoming textile projects in Gujarat," he said.
Moreover, according to the official, the textile policy will not be similar to the ones announced by Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra.
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"The Maharashtra model only looks to provide financial assistance to the industry. However, ours will be more focused on value addition. The draft which is almost ready has laid a huge emphasis on high valued products and efficiency in the industry," the official added.
Therefore, since the synthetic industry is almost entirely dependent on the domestic market, the Gujarat government's textile policy will look to enable it produce export-worthy products. "We are trying to increase the man-made textile industry's strength in high value products so as to make them competitive in the exports market. Currently, the industry around Surat is only focused on domestic market," he said.