Textile sector attracted up to Rs 27k cr investments: Smriti Irani

Union Minister Smriti Irani said the textile sector has attracted up to Rs 27,000 crore investments since the announcement of incentive package last year, and is likely to get more investment from international and domestic markets going forward. The government in June last year announced a Rs 6,000 crore special package for the textile and apparel sector, which included several tax and production incentives.

“As per the record of textile commissioner’s office, an investment of up to Rs 27,000 crore has come in, and we are hopeful that with the government’s intervention, we will get more investments, both from the international and domestic markets,” Irani said while addressing the textile summit, TeXellence 2018, organised by industry body CII. The minister said that she is positive about the future because the industry and the government have found an ecosystem where the two work together on a day-to-day basis.

“One of the challenges the government and the industry need to address is turnaround time for our goods after the production,” Irani added. The government for the first time created a logistics department within the commerce ministry to reduce the turnaround time significantly, she said. The minister said that she will be meeting commerce minister Suresh Prabhu in the next three to four days to discuss various issues being faced by the textile industry and the WTO challenge that the country is set to face. Meanwhile, the textile industry today requested the minister to raise the issue of free trade agreement (FTA) with the commerce ministry for exports growth since the competitive countries were enjoying the duty-free status..