Minister assures incentives to textile industry

Union textiles minister Shankersinh Vaghela on Saturday said the central government will soon take measures to solve problems faced by the textile industry by announcing measures such as incentives and making changes in the policy.

Talking to reporters during his visit to Surat, Vaghela said, "The UPA government at the Centre is people-oriented. It understands the problems of the textile industry. We will take measures to make the industry competitive so that it will be in a position to face global competition before the quota regime is over."

On Cenvat (central value-added tax), Vaghela said, "The organised sector is in favour of Cenvat, while the unorganised sector wants it abolished. I do not make any commitment that Cenvat will be abolished as the issue is related to the finance ministry."

Vaghela, however, assured that he would raise the issue with finance minister P Chidambaram. "If Cenvat cannot be abolished, we will try to see that at least the problems faced by weavers because of the taxation system are reduced. The Union Budget will be presented in a few days and I am sure the finance minister will announce incentives for the textile industry."

Vaghela said, "I have requested the finance minister to consider reducing customs duty on imported machinery so that more textile traders can acquire the latest machinery. This will lead to improvement in quality of finished cloth that is manufactured in the country. This will subsequently lead to increased demand in the international market."

Vaghela said he would raise the issue of Surat airport at the highest level.

"Lack of an airport is proving to be a major deterrent for the industries of Surat. I will talk to the civil aviation minister Praful Patel and request him to take steps for speedy development of Surat airport," said Vaghela.

To a question regarding power tariff, Vaghela said, "Power tariff in Gujarat is the highest in the country. It is causing a great deal of problems to the local industries, but any decision on power tariff is in the hands of the state government."

About closed textile mills, Vaghela said, "The textile mills, which are lying closed for a long time will be used for setting up research laboratories, garment parks, apparel parks and handloom malls, which will benefit the textile industry."

Vaghela said, "The law and order situation in Gujarat is not satisfactory. The post-Godhra communal riots, Akshardham Temple attack and the recent encounter death of four alleged Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists in Ahmedabad show this."

"Even former chief minister Keshubhai Patel had termed the present situation in Gujarat as mini-emergency. We are demanding a judicial inquiry into these incidents so that the truth can be found out. We are also demanding a White Paper on these incidents," said Vaghela.