The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : New textile policy to be announced soon

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Saturday, Mar 15, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

New textile policy to be announced soon

Staff Reporter

It will deal with marketing and location, among other things

‘Units should be set up in other parts of the State instead of only in and around Bangalore’
81,000 powerloom units in State employ about two lakh people

Bangalore: The State Government would soon come out with a new textile policy, involving Rs. 500 crore, which would address various issues concerning the sector, Commissioner for Textile Development Ashokkumar C. Manoli said on Friday.

Inaugurating the two-day “buyer-seller meet” organised by the Powerloom Development and Export Promotion Council (PDEXCIL) in Bangalore, Mr Manoli said the policy would deal with the issues like marketing of garment materials, machinery, supply of power, skilled labourers, location of the industry and so on.

He said the Government wanted the garment industry to set up units in other parts of the State instead of having units only in and around Bangalore city.

Employment

Pointing out that the textile sector was the second largest employer next only to the agricultural sector, Mr. Manoli said people employed in garment industry were more compared to those employed in the information technology sector in Bangalore city. About four lakh women were working in garment units in and around Bangalore city, he added.

Admitting that appreciation of the rupee against the US dollar had severely affected garment exports, the commissioner said the garment sector could still depend on domestic market as the people, particularly the middle class, of late were attracted by the modern products introduced by the garment sector for the overseas market.

PDEXCIL chairman M.S. Mathivanan said the garment sector targeted European countries for exporting materials related to home furnishing as there was tremendous demand for such products. Shifting to European market would also help the exporters to overcome the affects of the fall in dollar value, he pointed out.

Referring to the powerloom sector in Karnataka, Joint Textile Commissioner, Union Ministry of Textiles, N.M. Mugadur, said that there were 81,000 powerloom units in State employing about two lakh people.

These units manufactured about 6.5 million metres of cotton and silk fabric every day and supply to the garment industry, mainly from Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra.

Twenty-one fabric manufacturers — 19 from Tamil Nadu, one each from Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka — are participating in the meet.

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