Rs 20 crore-wool project approved for Punjab

In what can be seen as the first public-private initiative in the wool industry of Punjab, the Union Ministry of Textiles today approved a Rs 20-crore project for setting up a common processing house here.

The project was announced in 2004, and the ministry sanctioned a grant of Rs 6 crore then. The venture, however, was formally announced by Bhupinder Singh, joint secretary in the Union Ministry of Textiles, on Tuesday. Singh, who was in the city today, also presented a cheque of Rs 50 lakh.

Speaking to Business Standard, Singh said the Centre would give Rs 6 crore by the end of the current fiscal, while the Punjab National Bank would fund another Rs 12 crore. The rest "" another Rs 2 crore "" will be contributed by the local wool industry.

Issuing a deadline, Singh said the project had to be completed within two years, failing which the fund would be withdrawn.

Mridula Jain, member of the Shawl Club of Ludhiana, said the club had earlier initiated efforts for the project.

"The textile ministry was convinced of the project's necessity in 2004 but we were not able to get land from the industries department," Jain said. "Now, we have finally got 1.5 acres near Manju Cinema, and this will expedite the process," he added.

Singh said the processing house would aim to maintain the highest quality and standards of export-oriented goods, especially dyeing, and would also focus on quality processing.

"No such common facility was available for the wool-based industry till date," he said. "According to information available, as much as 60 per cent of the samples sent by Ludhiana-based wool units were rejected due to deficiency in dyeing and processing," he added.

He said work at the site would start next April and besides catering to Shawl Club members, the processing house would also be open for other small-scale units.

Initially, work would start by installing yarn dyeing machines with a daily capacity of two tons, which would be expanded later, officials said.

Meanwhile, aside from the wool industry, Singh said other Ludhiana-based units also required to modernise themselves with the government's technological upgrade fund to match the production levels of Gujarat and other technologically advanced states.