'In 5 months, state gets offers to set up 40% of 2K powerlooms'

kolkata: The state government has received a very positive response to its 'Powerloom Incentive Policy' that was launched on December 30, 2021 with the aim of becoming self-dependent in garment production particularly school uniforms for children.

State Micro Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) & Textiles minister Chandranath Sinha said at the state assembly that the government in just over five months received proposals for setting up of 40 per cent of the 2000 odd powerlooms to which the state will be providing benefits under the scheme.

"The powerlooms that have evinced interest to produce fabric (cloth) abiding government norms will be provided with thread by Tantuja that will purchase the fabric from the producers for a period of three years. The state government will bear 20 per cent of the machine cost which will be needed for these new age shuttleless power looms for production of improved quality fabrics," Sinha said.Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has directed the state government to be self-reliant in producing fabric for school children. "We will initially ask the powerlooms to produce fabric for school dresses and later they can go for diversification,"the minister added.

The state government at present requires six crore metres of suiting and shirting lengths to supply two sets of uniforms to students across the state. As of now, the cloth is procured from outside Bengal mainly from Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh.The state government will be setting up an integrated textile park at Ashokenagar in North 24-Parganas, Kalyani in Nadia and Raiganj in North Dinajpur. "We have made plans to set up six thread hubs (Suto Hub) in the state to ensure that weavers of Bengal get thread at the right price without the involvement of middlemen, We have also laid special emphasis on marketing of textile,"Sinha added.