Lok Sabha Question No. 848 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-02-05
Subject: Setting up of Retail Stores
Ministry: TEXTILES
Asked by: Meenakashi Lekhi

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 848 TO BE ANSWERED ON 05.02.2021

## SETTING UP OF RETAIL STORES

## 848.   SHRIMATI MEENAKASHI LEKHI:

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

- (a) whether the Government proposes to open retail stores to promote and encourage Textile Industry in the country;
- (b) the details of schemes introduced by the Government since 2014 to promote textile industry in India and globally; and
- (c) the details of achievements of various Public Sector Undertakings under the Ministry of Textiles?

## उत्तर

ANSWER

## वस्त्र मंत्री ( श्रीमती स्मृतत ज़ूबिन इरानी )

MINISTER OF TEXTILES (SMT. SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

- (a): The Government does not open any retail stores.  However, the government provides platforms to  the  agencies/weavers  in  domestic  as  well  as  overseas  markets  for  promotion  of  marketing  of handloom products produced  across the country. Also,  government  creates  a  conducive  environment and provides enabling conditions for textile industry in the country through its various schemes/initiatives.
- (b): The  following  schemes  are  being  implemented  by  government  since  2014  to  promote  textile industry in the country and globally:
- i. Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies (ROSCTL) : With effect from 07.03.2019, the Central  Government has launched a new scheme viz. Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies (ROSCTL) on Export of Garments/Made-ups.  The ROSCTL Scheme provides rebate of State  and  Central  Taxes  and  Levies  in  addition  to  the  Duty  Drawback  Scheme,  through  the Scheme on Export of Garments/Made-ups at notified rates and value caps and will remain in force upto 31.01.2020.

The Government decided to continue the RoSCTL (Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies) scheme until such time the RoSCTL scheme is merged with Remission of Duties and  Taxes  on  Exported  Products  (RoDTEP)  Scheme.   For  this  purpose,  the  Government  has approved adhoc allocation of funds of Rs.7398 crore for FY 2020-21 for issuance of duty credit scrips under RoSCTL Scheme. Taking a major step to boost exports, Government has decided to extend  the  benefit  of  the  Scheme  for  Remission  of  Duties  and  Taxes  on  Exported  Products (RoDTEP) to all export goods with effect from 1st January, 2021. Government has also notified a  special  one-time  additional  ad-hoc  incentive  of  upto  1%  of  FoB  value  to  be  provided  for exports  of  apparel  and  made-ups  to  offset  the  difference  between  RoSCTL  and  RoSL  + MEIS@4%, from 7.3.2019 to 31.12.2019. Further, in  order  to  boost  exports  in  MMF  sector, Government has removed anti-dumping duty on PTA, a key raw material for the manufacture of MMF fibre and  yarn.  Government  has  also  removed  anti-dumping  duty  on  acrylic  fibre,  raw material for yarn and knitwear industry. Assistance is also provided to exporters under Market Access Initiative (MAI) Scheme. Government has enhanced interest equalization rate for pre and post shipment credit for exports done by MSMEs including textiles sector from 3% to 5% w.e.f. 02.11.2018. Benefits of Interest Equalization Scheme has been extended to merchant exporters from 02.01.2019 which was earlier limited to only manufacturer exporters. Merchandise Export from  India  Scheme  (MEIS)  was  in  operation  from  1.4.2015  till  31.12.2020  for  exports  made (including  textiles  products)  with  an  objective  to  offset  infrastructural  inefficiencies  and associated costs involved in exporting goods/ products which were produced/ manufactured in India.

- ii. Special  Package  for  Textile  and  Apparel  sector: Rs  6000  crores  package  was  launched  in June 2016 to boost employment and export potential in the apparel and made up segments.  This package  consists  of  Remission  of  State  Levies  for  garmenting  and  made-ups;  additional production and employment linked subsidy of 10% under ATUFS for garmenting; assistance for the  entire  12%  employers'  contribution  towards  EPF;  fixed  term  employment  in  garmenting, increasing overtime caps; and income tax concessions under section 80JJAA for the garmenting sector.
- iii. Amended  Technology  Up-gradation  Fund  Scheme  (ATUFS): The  amended  Scheme  was launched  in  January  2016  with  an  outlay  of  Rs  17822  Crores  for  technology  upgradation  of textiles  industry  with  one  time  capital  subsidy  for  eligible  machinery.   The  scheme  has  been designed to mobilize new investment of about Rs 95 000 cr and employment for 35 lakh persons by the year 2022.
- iv. SAMARTH- The Scheme for Capacity Building in Textile Sector (SCBTS) for  the  entire value  chain  of  textile  sector,  excluding  Spinning  and  Weaving  in  the  organized  sector,  for  a period of three years from 2017-18 to 2019-20 with an outlay of Rs. 1300 crore. The objectives of  the  scheme  inter  alia  include  providing  demand  driven,  placement  oriented  National  Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF) compliant skilling programmes to incentivize and supplement the efforts of the industry in creating jobs in the organised textile and related sectors and to provide skilling and skill-upgradation in the traditional sectors. 10.00 lakh persons will be trained under the scheme by March, 2020.
- v. PowerTex  India: A  comprehensive  scheme  for  development  of  Powerloom  sector  has  been launched  w.e.f  01.04.2017  to  31.03.2020  with  components  like Insitu-upgradation  of  plain Powerlooms, Group Work Shed Scheme, Yarn Bank Scheme, Common Facility Centre (CFC), Solar Energy Scheme, Pradhan Mantri Credit Scheme, etc.
- vi. Handloom  sector: Government  is  implementing  following  schemes  since  2014-15  onwards under  which financial assistance is provided  for  raw  materials,  purchase  of  looms  and accessories, design innovation, product diversification, infrastructure development, skill upgradation,  lighting  units,  marketing  of  handloom  products  in  domestic  as  well  as  overseas markets and loan at concessional rates: -
6.  National Handloom Development Programme (NHDP)
7.  Comprehensive Handloom Cluster Development Scheme (CHCDS)
8.  Handloom Weavers' Comprehensive Welfare Scheme (HWCWS)
9.  Yarn Supply Scheme (YSS)
- vii. Silk  Samagra :  Government  of  India  has  been  implementing  a  Central  Sector  Scheme  'Silk Samagra' for development of sericulture in the country with components such as Research & Development, Training, Transfer of Technology and I.T Initiatives, support to seed organizations, coordination and market development and, quality certification Systems (QCS)/ Export Brand Promotion and Technology Upgradation. R&D efforts have also been initiated to evolve new products by blending silk with other fibres such as wool, coir, cotton etc., which have demand in international markets.
- viii. Jute (ICARE): A project Jute ICARE (Improved Cultivation and Advanced Retting Exercise) was  introduced  in  2015  for  improving  productivity  and  quality  of  raw  jute  through  carefully designed interventions. The project has benefitted more than 1.9 lakhs farmers in various states in the country.
- ix. Scheme for Research and Development for the Textile Industry including Jute was approved in  the  12th  Five  Year  Plan  from  2014-15  to  2018-19  with  an  outlay  of  Rs.  149  crore.  The scheme has been designed with three major components as under:
13.  Component-I:  Research  and  Development  projects  to  be  undertaken  by  reputed  research agencies  including  Textile  Research  Associations  (TRAs),  research  laboratories,  universities, industry  associations  etc.  engaged  in  research  in  the  textiles  and  allied  sector  (Total  Outlay: Rs.50 crore). The Scheme completed its tenure on 31st March, 2019, and has been extended up to 31st March, 2020.
14.  Component-II:  Promotion  of  R&D  in  jute  sector;  transfer  of  technologies  and  dissemination activities in jute sector (Total Outlay: Rs.80 crore).
15.  Component-III: Benchmarking studies, knowledge dissemination and promoting green initiatives through R&D (Total Outlay: Rs.15 Crore).
- x. Scheme  for  Promoting  Usage  of  Geotechnical  Textiles  in  North  Eastern  Region :  The Scheme was launched on 24.03.2015 for a period of five years (2014-15 to 2018-19) with an outlay of Rs.427 crore. The objective of this Scheme is to promote and utilize Geotextiles  in development  of  the  infrastructure  in  the  NE  states  by  providing  technological  and  financial support  for  meeting  additional  costs,  if  any,  due  to  the  usage  of  Geotextiles  in  existing/  new projects in road, hill/ slope protection and water reservoirs.
- xi. National Technical Textile Mission: The government has approved the proposal for creation of National Technical Textiles Mission for a period of 4 years (2020-21 to 2023-24) with an outlay of Rs.1480 crores. The focus of the Mission is for developing on usage of technical textiles in various  flagship  missions,  programmes  of  the  country  including  strategic  sectors.  The  use  of technical  textiles  in  agriculture,  aquaculture,  dairy,  poultry,  etc.  Jal  Jivan  Mission;  Swachch Bharat Mission; Ayushman Bharat will bring an overall improvement in cost economy, water and soil conservation, better agricultural productivity and higher income to farmers per acre of land holding in addition to promotion of manufacturing and exports activities in India. The use of  geo-textiles  in  highways,  railways  and  ports  will  result  in  robust  infrastructure,  reduced maintenance cost and higher life cycle of the infrastructure assets.
- xii. Integrated  Wool  Development  Programme'  (IWDP) is  being  implemented  since  2014  for development of woollen textile industry in major wool potential areas of the country. Under this Scheme, provision has been made to establish Common Facility Centres (CFCs) at major wool potential  areas  as  the  Woollen  Industry  require  to  modernize   pre-loom  and  post-loom processing  facilities  for  ensuring  quality  finished  product.  The  scheme  having  provision  for creating different kind of wool and woollen processing activities like- wool scouring, carding, dyeing, knitting, weaving. Establishing such CFCs helps in increasing wool processing capacity.
19. (c): The  details  of  achievements  of  Public  Sector  Undertakings(PSUs)  under  M/o  Textiles  are  as follows:

## i. Cotton Corporation of India

-  CCI has developed a mobile app, 'Cott-Ally' wherein latest news regarding weather condition, Crop situation, best farm practices etc are available  in regional languages which gives real time information.  In  addition,  it  is  an  authentic  source  of  information  regarding  all  government schemes related to cotton and information on best farm practices for sustainable production of good  quality  contaminant-free  cotton  to  maximize  the  farm  income.  Live  chat  feature  of  this mobile app will benefit the user in such a way that whenever anyone selects the State, live chat will be routed to the CCI Branch office of that particular state, so that live chat can be made in the regional language of choice.
-  CCI is promoting mechanization of cotton harvesting under Corporate Social Responsibility by equipping  the  marginal  and  small  cotton  farmers  with  hand  held  kapasplucker  machines  in  a
- phased manner which reduced dependence on labour,reduce cost of production thereby higher financial returns. Use of Kapasplucker machine avoid contamination at farm level and improve the quality of cotton.
-  For scientific assessment of quality equipped procurement centres with portable moisture meters having  data  transfer  facility,  micronaire  testers  and  hand-held  ginning  machines.  Further prescribed the quality norms upon ginning and pressing factories to give better quality of cotton as  per  parameters  fixed  for  lint  realization%,  shortages  and  trash%.   This  step  will  improve brand image of Indian cotton
-  Tender wizard platform approved by Ministry of Electronics and Information technology is used for  conducting  e-auction  to  sell  its  stock  in  a  more  transparent  manner.  It  not  only  keep confidentiality of e-auction process but bidding is made on real-time basis which help in making price discovery based on the prevailing market.
-  CCI is giving discount of Rs.300/- per candy in its regular sale price to MSME mills, Khadi and Village industry, Cooperative sector mills to help them in enhancing their competitiveness and efficiency.
-  To increase the production of Extra Long Staple (ELS) cotton, distributed two lakh kgs of ELS cotton seeds in the state of Tamilnadu to cotton farmers through Tamil Nadu Government.

## ii. Central Cottage Industries Corporation of India Limited (CCIC)

CCIC has supported rich heritage of art & craft in  India  through  its  retail  emporia  providing market platform to artisans and weavers(including national and state awardees)

## iii. National Textile Corporation Limited (NTC)

NTC is engaged in production of yarn and fabrics through its 23 mills in operation, located all over India producing around 550 lakhs KG of yarn and 200 lakhs meter of fabric per annum.

- iv. National Handloom Development Corporation Ltd (NHDC) :  In order to make available all types  of  yarn,  basic  raw  material  used  in  the  Handloom  sector  to  the  eligible  handloom weavers/agencies at Mill Gate Price, Government of India is implementing Yarn Supply scheme throughout the country. Further, in order to facilitate handloom sector/weavers to compete with Mill Sector, 10% price subsidy is also provided under Yarn Supply Scheme on cotton, domestic Silk, Woollen and linen hank yarn with quantity restrictions.

## v. Jute Corporation of India (JCI) :

-  Ensuring  the  market  price  levels  of  raw  jute  above  Minimum  Support  Price  through  active presence  of  JCI  procurement  centres  and  judicious  intervention  as  and  when  the  prices  fall below MSP while ensuring all payments direct to the accounts of farmers within three working days.
-  Distribution of certified jute seeds were also carried out amidst total lockdown following all the Covid-19 protocols thereby helping to achieve 10-15% higher sowing over last year.
-  New marketing channels for Jute Diversified Products have been launched including Franchisee and E-Commerce modes.
-  Corporation has taken up following innovative initiatives towards meaningful utilisation of CSR funds in the F.Y 2020-21:
-  Supporting mother and child health care facility to five district hospitals in five jute  growing aspirational  districts  (Darang,  Goalpara  Districts  in  Assam,Nadia  District  in  West  Bengal, Katihar and Purnia Districts in Bihar) as per the advice of the Department of Public Enterprises.
-  Two  women  NGOs supported  for  imparting  training  to  rural  women  artisans  to  manufacture quality Jute Diversified Products (JDP) so that the trained women artisans may start up own JDP manufacturing units.
-  JCI  has  signed  MOU  with  NSC  on  19/08/2020  for  sourcing  of  1000  MT  Certified  Jute  seed (Variety JRO-204) and has planned to commercially distribute the same to farmers.