At least 2.16 lakh powerloom units in India have been upgraded under the In-Situ Upgradation scheme announced by the government, informed India’s Minister of State of Textiles, Ajay Tamta, in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha recently.
The scheme, part of Power Tex India, offers financial assistance to existing plain powerloom units for their upgradation to semi-automatic and shuttleless to improve quality and productivity.
Additionally, the government also launched a comprehensive i-TUFS software for implementation of Amended Technology Upgradation Funds Scheme (ATUFS).
The iTUFS software allows beneficiary units to upload their applications directly and track their application at each stage of the process.
Furthermore, the minister also informed about textile export from India during 2017-18. During the aforementioned period, India exported cotton textiles volume at USD 1854 million and USD 1020 million to Bangladesh and China respectively.
“India witnessed 3 per cent increase in man-made fibre (MMF) export during 2013-17,” added the minister.
Indian powerloom sector accounts for 80 per cent of the woven fabric production, 60 per cent of the total fabric production and provides direct jobs to 63 lakh people especially the people below the poverty line, rural masses and women folk. There are around 25.2 lakh looms operational in India.
