Lok Sabha Question No. 132 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-12-07
Subject: Textile Hubs
Ministry: TEXTILES
Asked by: Pallab Lochan Das

## 132. SHRI PALLAB LOCHAN DAS:

Will the Minister of TEXTILES be pleased to state :

## TEXTILE HUBS

## वस्त्र मंत्री

- (a) whether the Government is planning to introduce 75 textile hubs across the country;
- (b) if so, the details thereof, State-wise including Assam along with the selection procedure;
- (c) whether it is a fact that Assam is a hub of highest handloom weavers in India; and
- (d) if so, the initiatives undertaken by the Government to support handloom and textile weavers of Assam?

## उत्तर

## ANSWER )

## वस्त्र राज् य मंत्री ( श्रीमती दर्शना जरदोर्

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR TEXTILES (SMT. DARSHANA JARDOSH)

(a) & (b): Government has been implementing Scheme for Integrated Textile Park since 2005 to provide with  state  of  the  art  world  class  infrastructure  facilities  for  setting  up  their  units.  Government  has  also approved setting up of 7 (seven) PM Mega Integrated Textile Regions and Apparel (PM MITRA) Parks in Greenfield/ Brownfield sites to develop world class infrastructure including plug and play facility with an outlay of Rs.4,445 crores for a period 2021-22 to 2027-28. These parks will enable the textile industry to become  globally  competitive,  attract  large  investment  and  boost  employment  generation.  Government  is further exploring the feasibility of supporting textile hubs across the country.

(c): As  per  Handloom  Census  2019-20,  Assam  has  highest  handloom  weavers.  There  are  11,07,428 handloom weavers and 1,76,453 allied workers in the Assam State.

(d): Ministry  is  implementing  following  schemes  for  development  &  promotion  of  handlooms  and  to support the welfare of handloom weavers across the country, including Assam: -

1. National Handloom Development Programme (NHDP);
2. Raw Material Supply Scheme (RMSS)

Under the above schemes, financial assistance is provided to the eligible handloom agencies/weavers for raw materials,  looms  &  accessories,  infrastructure  development,  design  &  product  development,  marketing  of handloom  products  in  domestic/overseas  markets,  Weavers  MUDRA  Loans  etc.  Besides,  62  Handloom Clusters  have  been  financially  assisted  in  the  State  of  Assam  under  National  Handloom  Development Programme.

In addition to above:

(i) Steps  have  been  taken  to  on-board  weavers  on  Government  e-Market  place  to  enable  them  to  sell their products directly to various Government Departments and organizations. So far, about 1.5 lakh weavers have been on-boarded on the GeM portal, out of which, 3,816 weavers are from Assam State.

(ii) To  enhance  productivity,  marketing  capabilities  and  facilitate  better  incomes,  144  Handloom Producer  companies  have  been  formed  in  different  States  of  the  country,  out  of  which,  14  Producer companies are in Assam State.

(iii) 13  Design  Resource  Centres  have  been  set  up  in  Weavers'  Service  Centres  at  Delhi,  Mumbai, Varanasi,  Ahmedabad,  Jaipur,  Bhubaneswar,  Guwahati,  Kancheepuram,  Kolkata,  Indore,  Nagpur,  Panipat and Meerut with the objective to build and create design-oriented excellence in the Handloom Sector and to facilitate  weavers,  exporters,  manufacturers  and  designers  access  design  repositories  for  sample/product improvisation and development.

(iv) For  export  promotion  of  handloom  products,  Handloom  Export  Promotion  Council  has  been participating/organizing  international  marketing  fairs/events.  Besides,  domestic  marketing  events  are  also organised in different parts of the country including Assam for the weavers to market and sell their products.