Lok Sabha Question No. 4412 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-30
Subject: GST on Handloom Products
Ministry: TEXTILES
Asked by: Chandra Sekhar Sahu, Girish Bhalchandra Bapat, Pritam Gopinath Munde, Rahul Ramesh Shewale

## GST ON HANDLOOM PRODUCTS

4412.  SHRI CHANDRA SEKHAR SAHU: SHRI GIRISH BHALCHANDRA BAPAT: DR. PRITAM GOPINATHRAO MUNDE: SHRI RAHUL RAMESH SHEWALE:

Will the Minister of TEXTILES वस्त्र मंत्री be pleased to state :

(a) whether the Goods and Services Tax (GST) has increased the sale price of Handloom products in the country;

- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c)  whether  the  Government  has  made  any  study  to  find  out  its  impact  on  marketing  turnover  of handloom  products and also on the earnings of the weavers engaged in this profession;
- (d) if so, the details thereof;
- (e) the number of persons engaged in the Handloom Sector of the country particularly in Odisha; and
- (f)  the  details  of  the  corrective  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  save  the  Handloom  sector  of  the country and the persons engaged therein?

## उत्तर

## ANSWER

## वस्त्र राज् य मंत्री ( श्रीमती दर्शना जरदोर् )

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

(a) to (f): Goods  and  Services  Tax  (GST)  has  been  introduced  by  the  Government  of  India  to rationalize multiple taxes on goods & services and to bring transparency in the taxation system.  Also, GST is implemented through an Act of Parliament with States as equal partners in GST Council with Government  of  India.  However,  no  exercise  has  been  undertaken  to  study  the  impact  of  GST  on Handloom.

Ministry of Textiles is implementing the following schemes to promote the handlooms and welfare of weavers across the country-:

1. National Handloom Development Programme;
2. Raw Material Supply Scheme;

Under the above schemes, financial assistance is provided to the eligible handloom agencies/weavers for raw materials, common  infrastructure development, marketing of handloom products in domestic/overseas markets, loans at concessional rates, etc.

To overcome the issues faced by handloom workers, the Government has taken following steps:

- i. The  States and UTs  have  been  requested  for  their  State  Handloom  Corporations/Cooperatives/Agencies to make purchases of the finished inventory available with the handloom weavers.
- ii. 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.
- iii. To enhance productivity, marketing capabilities and facilitate better incomes, 135 Handloom Producer companies have been formed in different States of the country.
- iv. Under Weaver MUDRA/Concessional Credit Scheme, margin money assistance at 20% of the loan amount subject to a maximum of Rs. 25,000/- for individual weaver/Weaver Entrepreneur and Rs. 20 lakh for Handloom Organizations, interest subvention upto 7% and credit guarantee fees on loans for a period of three years are provided.
- v. Design  Resource  Centres  have  been  set  up  in  Weavers'  Service  Centres  at  Delhi,  Mumbai, Varanasi, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Bhubaneswar, Guwahati and Kancheepuram 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.
- vi. For export promotion of handloom products, Handloom Export Promotion Council has been organizing  International  Fairs.    During  the  year  2021-22,  various  international  marketing fairs/events have been organized.  Besides, domestic marketing events were also organized in different parts of the country for the weavers to market and sell their products.
- vii. Weavers are facilitated to sell their products online and 23 e-commerce platforms have been associated by Ministry of Textiles under a policy framework.

As  per  4th  All  India  Handloom  Census,  there  are  35,22,512  Handloom  workers  including 1,17,836 from the State of Odisha.

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