The finance minister in the 2014-15 union budget announced to set up Trade Facilitation Centre and Crafts Museum with an outlay of Rs. 50 crore to develop and promote handloom products and carry forward the rich tradition of handlooms of Varanasi, textile minister, Mr. Santosh Kumar Gangwar said this in a written reply to Lok Sabha.
The state government has not allotted the land/building identified for the purpose at Varanasi. The finance minister in the budget also announced to set up six more Textile mega clusters at Bareily, Lucknow, Surat, Kuttch, Bhagalpur, Mysore and one in Tamil Nadu with an allocation of Rs. 200 crore. Varanasi Mega handloom cluster is already under implementation.
The office of Development Commissioner for Handlooms, is implementing the following schemes for development of handlooms and welfare of handloom weavers:-
(i) National Handloom Development Programme
(ii) Handloom Weavers’ Comprehensive Welfare Scheme
(iii) Yarn Supply Scheme and
(iv) Comprehensive Handloom Cluster Development Scheme.
Under the Comprehensive Handicrafts Cluster Development Scheme (CHCDS), two mega clusters i.e. Mirzapur – Bhadohi (UP) and Srinagar (J&K) are implemented for the development of carpet industry in the State.