Indian textile export at Rs 1,476 Cr & rising, says Pabitra Margherita

Guwahati, Feb 19: More than 4.6 crore people in India are involved in the textile sector, the second highest involvement of people in one sector after agriculture, said the Union Minister of State for Textiles, Pabitra Margherita.

He also revealed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has adopted a vision for increasing the volume of income from the sector by three times by the year 2030.Talking to The Assam Tribune, Margherita revealed that Bharat Tex, the biggest-ever textile fair in India, which concluded yesterday, would give the sector a big boost as thousands of foreign buyers visited the fair.

He said that the volume of exports of the textile sector at this moment is around 170 million dollars, and it is likely to increase substantially in the days to come. The minister said that the Bharat Tex gave the producers the biggest platform, as more than 6,000 foreign buyers participated in the event, while the total footfall was around 120,000.

Around 60 textile-related seminars were organised during the fair. Four designers were allowed to showcase their products in fashion shows, and incidentally, two of them were from the North East. A number of MoUs and business deals were signed during the fair, which will lead to improvement in exports.

Replying to a question whether the closure of a number of cloth manufacturing units in Bangladesh will be beneficial for India, the minister said, "We are not dependent on the closure of units in any country.

We are trying to increase our production. The Prime Minister has also put stress on the textile sector, and budget allocation has been increased by 20 percent. Textiles are already a major contributor to the country's economy, and in addition to exports, our domestic market is also very strong.

"Margherita said that in the fair, several stalls were from Assam and those received very good responses from the buyers. He said that the North East has a strong base of textiles and silk and the Ministry of Textiles and Silk Board are trying to create market linkages to the weavers. He said that efforts are also on to upgrade the skill and loom quality of the weavers, while, yards are provided at subsidised rates. He expressed the hope that the textile industry will be able to give a big boost to the economy of the region in the days to come.

By-

R Dutta Choudhury