Telangana seeks federal funds for textile park

IT and Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister KT Rama Rao wrote to Union Minister for Women Child Development and Textiles Smriti Zubin Irani seeking funds to develop the handloom sector and textile park.

Hyderabad (Telangana):IT and Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister KT Rama Rao on Thursday wrote to Union Minister for Women Child Development and Textiles Smriti Zubin Irani seeking funds from the Centre for the development of handloom sector and textile park in the state.

In a letter to Union Minister, he sought funds from the Union Budget 2021-22 for the development of Kakatiya Mega Textile Park, and sanction of Mega Powerloom Cluster at Sircilla and other proposals for the development of Handlooms and Textiles in Telangana.

The Minister stated that the Kakatiya Mega Textile Park (KMTP) at Warangal would take off in the fiscal year 2021-22. "KMTP is being developed at a total estimated project cost of Rs 1552 crore of which the core infrastructure works would cost approximately Rs 1094 crore We have aligned our project activities such that major external and internal infrastructure works at KMTP can be taken up immediately upon receipt of the proposed financial support under the Mega Textile Park scheme," said KTR.

"Under the proposed scheme, we understand that a total of Rs 500 crore capital support is available for a Mega Textile Park. We request that approximately Rs 300 crore of this amount be released at the earliest to kick start major external infrastructure works urgently needed at the park," said the minister.

Noting that there are 35,588 power looms in Telangana, the minister said 25,495 of them are in the Sircilla district alone.

"Taking into account of existing power looms into cognizance, the Sircilla District stands best suitable to establish Mega Powerloom Cluster under CPCDS and submission of a proposal to Government of India for sanction and developing Mega Powerloom Cluster therein, such as Ichalkaranji (Maharashtra, Surat (Gujarat) Karanpura and Solar, etc., which were already sanctioned as Mega Powerloom Clusters during 12th Five Year Plan during 2017-18 to 2019-20," said KTR.

KTR urged Irani sanction a Mega Powerloom Cluster at Sircilla and sanction an amount of Rs 49.84 crores from out of the projected outlay of Rs 993.65 crores towards filling various gaps and to implement the components including infrastructure gaps, modernization, and expansion of production base, strengthen of value chain, market development, skill development & capacity building and administration studies and project monitoring costs of textile park, weaving and apparel park at Sircilla.

KTR also mentioned that the Telangana State has a very rich heritage in handlooms, handicrafts providing employment to a large number of artisans in rural areas.

In the letter, the Minister also requested for sanctioning of the Indian Institute of Handloom Technology (I.I.H.T) in Telangana State. "At present, there is no such Institute in the state to offer a course in diploma in handloom Technology and the students are finding it very difficult and are going to neighboring states such as Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka to acquire admissions in IIHT."

He also requested for up-gradation of Powerlooms under the In-SITU Scheme and sanction of Block Level Handloom Clusters under NHDP.

Telangana minister also mentioned the impact of COVID-19 / Pandemic on the Indian Handloom, Textiles, and Apparel Industry. "We have placed high emphasis on the sector to create jobs for our local population and to contribute to the country's GDP and exports," he added.

(ANI)