Textile minister, Mr. Santosh Kumar Gangwar said that the minister of textile had made the following provisions under Revised Restructured TUFS made on 4.10.2013 during the Twelfth Five Year Plan period, to enable handloom and powerloom sectors to compete globally:-
Handlooms Sector:
i. 5% Interest reimbursement (IR) or 30% capital subsidy on benchmarked machinery.
ii. Investments like factory buildings, pre-operative expenses and margin money for working capital are eligible for benefit of reimbursement under the scheme with 50% cap of total new eligible investment under RR-TUFS. Land is altogether excluded from eligible investments under TUFS. This benefit, however, shall not be available for textile units under the Scheme for Integrated Textile Park (SITP).
Powerloom Sector:
i. 30% Margin Money Subsidy (MMS) or 6% interest reimbursement and15% capital subsidy on investment in brand new shuttleless looms.
ii. A pilot project on technology upgradation of powerloom sector by way of hire purchase scheme with an overall outlay of Rs. 300 crore is being implemented.
Mr. Gangwar in a written reply in Lok Sabha today said a Trade Facilitation Centre and Craft Museum for Varanasi has been approved in the budget of 2014-15 to develop and promote the handloom, handicraft and silk products of Varanasi and to provide necessary help to weavers, artisans and entrepreneurs there for boosting marketing activities in domestic as well as international markets. Ministry of urban development, has allotted 8.18 acres of land at Bada Lalpur, Varanasi. The Prime Minister has laid the foundation stone on November seven, 2014 for setting up the Trade Facilitation Centre & Craft Museum, the minister said.
A Trade facilitation centre at Srinagar with a total budget cost of Rs.12.30 crore was also approved by the government under the comprehensive handicrafts Cluster Development Scheme (CHCDS) in the year 2010. J&K (Sales & Exports) Corporation, Srinagar has been identified as the implementing agency for the said project as per scheme guidelines.
