Lok Sabha Question No. 4264 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-08-11
Subject: Silk Industry
Ministry: TEXTILES
Asked by: NALIN KUMAR KATEEL

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 4264 TO BE ANSWERED ON 11.08.2016

## SILK INDUSTRY

## 4264.  SHRI  NALIN  KUMAR  KATEEL:

Will the Minister of Textiles वस्त्र मंरी be pleased to state;

- (a) whether  the  Indian  silk  industry  is  one  of  the  largest  generators  of  employment  and  foreign exchange for the country;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the percentage of employment and foreign exchange generated by the Indian Silk Industry during each of the last three years;
- (d) whether the Government is aware that Indian silk farmers are badly affected due to decrease in price of cocoons during the recent years; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof and the steps being taken by the Government thereon?

## उत्तर

## ANSWER वस्त्र      मंरी (श्री

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR TEXTILES (SHRI AJAY TAMTA)

- (a) to (c): Yes,  Madam.  The  employment  generation  under  silk  sector  and  foreign  exchange earnings from export of silk and silk goods by the country during the last three years are given below:-

| Year    |   Cumulative Employment Generation (Lakh Persons) |   *% of population employed in sericulture with respect to working age population |   Export Earnings (Crore Rs.) |   ** %share of Silk Exports over Total Exports |
|---------|---------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------|------------------------------------------------|
| 2013-14 |                                              78.5 |                                                                              0.99 |                       2480.89 |                                           0.13 |
| 2014-15 |                                              80.3 |                                                                              1.01 |                       2829.88 |                                           0.15 |
| 2015-16 |                                              82.5 |                                                                              1.01 |                       2495.99 |                                           0.15 |

*Source: www.censusindia.gov.in/vital\_statistics

** Source: DGCIS, Kolkata

(d) & (e): Yes, Madam. Silk Cocoons being an agricultural based commodity, a number of factor such as climate (rainfall, drought etc.), pest and disease incidences (which affect the production and quality of cocoon), demand for silk products, international prices of silk etc. affect the cocoon prices. But the price fall  is  generally  for  a  short  period  only.  During  July  2015,  there  was  a  fall  in  cocoon  prices  due  to  a combination of several reasons such as fall of raw silk prices in the international market, slow movement of raw silk in the domestic market, quantum jump in the arrivals of cocoons to the market.  However, the cocoon prices  during  2016-17  have  recovered  very  well  and  at  present  the  farmers  are  getting  higher prices for their produce compared to earlier years. The price is higher than the cost of production and the farmers are getting good profit.

The  major  Sericulture  States  namely,  Karnataka  and  Andhra  Pradesh  provide  price  support incentive for the growers to mitigate the loss incurred due to price crash. The Government of India is also providing support for establishment of Multi-end Reeling Units and Automatic Reeling Machines in the country to create better market avenues for cocoons so as to stabilize the price of cocoons.

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