Tamilnadu textile industry accounts over 1/3rd of the textile business in the country by accounting 45% of the cotton yarn production, 22% of the powerloom fabric production, 12% of handloom fabric production, 45% of knitted fabric production, 40% of home textiles production, 70% of the spinning machinery and other machinery, accessories and spares manufacturing capacity. Besides providing jobs to 60 lakh people and fetching over Rs.1 lakh crore as foreign exchange, the industry acts as the backbone of not only for the economy of the State, but also for the country. The State also consumes around 35% of the cotton produced in the country.
The Hon’ble Chief Minister of Tamilnadu, Mr.M.K.Stalin, soon after assuming charge, started giving major thrust for enhancing the global competitiveness of the manufacturing sector, attracting investments, boosting exports, enabling Ease of Doing Business. Realizing the need for giving more importance for the growth of the textile industry, Hon’ble Chief Minister had created a separate Department with a dedicated Commissionerate for the purpose. He started with the removal of Agricultural Market Committee Fee that prevailed since 1959 and benefited over three lakh farmers, the spinning sector especially the open-end spinning sector and the entire cotton textile value chain in the State. The Hon’ble Chief Minister also allocated Rs.15.32 crores for Sustainable Cotton Development Mission in the State and constituted a Committee to encourage ELS cotton, organic cotton and sustainable cotton production in the State. During the current Assembly session, the Government has announced a slew of policy initiatives that would further accelerate the growth of the textile industry in Tamilnadu.
In a Press Release issued here today, Mr.Ravi Sam, Chairman, The Southern India Mills’ Association (SIMA) hashighly appreciated and thanked the Hon’ble Chief Minister, Mr.M.K.Stalin and Hon’ble Minister for Handlooms and Textiles, Mr.R.Gandhi for announcing various policy initiatives yesterday in the Assembly. The announcement regarding Research and Development for the disposal of the accumulated salts of textile processing sector would give a great relief for the processing segment and also protect the environment says, Mr.Ravi Sam. He has also appreciated for making a special announcement for encouraging technical textiles especially in the mobiletech for automobile sector, protech for the defence sector, sporttech for the sports sector and meditech for the medical textile sector. SIMA Chairman has said that the announcement made to establish a mega Textile Park in an area of 1000 acres in Virudhunagar District would encourage scale of operation and would greatly boost the exports of the State. Mr.Ravi Sam has welcomed the announcement of creating a Textile City near Chennai giving focus for creating Integrated Textile Marketing and Fashion Trends and allocating Rs.1.00 crore for the preparation of feasibility study and DPR. The announcement of Tamilnadu Pavilion in all the major International Textile Fairs would enable the State to create brand Tamilnadu and boost exports. He has welcomed the announcement of creating a dedicated website and IT infrastructure at a cost of Rs.1 crore to disseminate the information relating to the Tamilnadu textile industry manufacturing capability and facilitate B2B trade opportunities. SIMA Chief has said that the announcement of constituting a Technical Advisory Committee would benefit the industry to have a regular interaction with the Government and resolve various issues and also enable the State to become the largest textile hub in the world.
SIMA Chairman has also appreciated the various unique announcements made for the handloom textiles such assigning of MoU with National Institute for Fashion Technology (NIFT) to create 500 designs per year at a cost Rs.50 lakhs, providing skill development training to 50 handloom weavers through National Institute for Design (NID) at a cost of Rs.50 lakhs, allocating Rs.2.50 crores to TN Zari Limited to enhance its productivity, allocating Rs.1 crore for the creation of TN Handloom Authenticity Body, allocating Rs.1 crore for digitization of traditional and GI tagged handloom articles, allocating Rs.10 crores to develop “Handlooms of India” fusion shop, providing Rs.10 crores for the surveying and geo tagging of handlooms and powerlooms in the State, extending financial support to install Electronic Panel Board in 5,000 powerlooms to improve their productivity, allocating Rs.10 crores to develop an international design studio in Chennai.
Mr.Ravi Sam has finally said that all these unique measures and historical announcements made by the Government of Tamilnadu would pave way for the faster growth of Tamilnadu textiles & clothing sector and would enable the State to retain its numero-uno position in India’s textiles & clothing sector.
