Textile policy to focus on new markets

With an aim to grab one-fifth of the global textile business and increase exports to $300 billion in the next decade, the Government proposes to rejig labour laws, make special efforts to attract foreign investment and enter new markets with high export potential, such as Japan, China, Brazil and Russia.

The proposals are part of the vision strategy framed by the expert committee on textiles, and will be used as inputs for the National Textile Policy.

¨The draft of the National Textile Policy will be placed before the Cabinet for approval after weaving in relevant comments from other Ministries and interest groups,¨ a Government official said.

Labour laws for the high employment generating sector will also be re-visited to make them both investor and labour friendly. The textiles sector is the second largest employment generating sector in the country after agriculture, providing direct employment to about 35 million people.