K T Rama Rao, the MA & UD minister confirmed that order for producing fabrics, sarees and other materials will be placed only if the weavers upgrade their looms to produce value-added fabric. He assured this while inaugurating a two-day fair in Sircilla on ‘in situ upgradation of plain powerlooms’ last week . The state government’s commitment to upgrade the existing plain powerlooms with modern gadgets spending Rs 30 crore to help them produce quality fabric and increase production.

Out of a total 50,000 powerlooms in the state, Sircilla town hosts more than 30,000. The government has decided to upgrade 15,000 powerlooms in Sircilla this year, he said. The government, which had taken up geo-tagging of all the powerlooms in the state to ensure transparency, will also train the weavers on the new machinery.

He also urged weavers to enroll themselves in the ‘Nethannaku Cheyutha’ thrift group by contributing a minimum amount of Rs 8 per month and an equal amount would be contributed by the government to provide social security to weavers.

– Apparel and Textile News, Apparel Talk, Indian Apparel