Irani seeks states' support to boost textile mfg, jobs

Union Minister Smriti Irani today sought support of the states in augmenting manufacturing capacity to boost job creation in the textile sector.
Addressing the annual conference of state textiles ministers, Irani noted that support of state governments is needed to expand manufacturing capacity and employment generation capacity.
She said that only this would address the challenges such as cost of power and labour faced by the industry. The minister called for capacity enhancement in production of textile machinery in the country.
The minister also proposed branding of Eri silk as 'Peace Silk from the land of the Mahatma' and pitched for better branding of textile sector for more effective global positioning.

Irani also called for a well-coordinated cohesive governance approach for more effective programme implementation and sectoral outcomes.
Noting that many states do not have dedicated Textiles Ministers, the Minister expressed the need for more dialogue and convergence at intra-state, inter-state and Centre-state levels.
Besides, Textiles Secretary Rashmi Verma highlighted the challenges faced by the textile sector, especially in the export market, due to uneven tariff and non-tariff barriers and expressed the hope that GST will bring down input costs, give a boost to textile exports and bring in greater capital investment in the sector.