Gujarat to become textile hub of India in 5 years.

Gujarat, through its focused policy for textile industry, will regain its lost glory of ‘Manchester of the East’. In the next five years, Gujarat will emerge as the country’s textile hub offering business as well as employment opportunity, as per Saurabh Patel state finance minister.

Holding the past government responsible for the plight of Gujarat’s textile industry, Patel said, “Textile industry had earned the city of Ahmedabad a name of ‘Manchester of the East’ in the pre-independence era. But due to unsuitable policies of the past government this industry has died down.”

Mr. Patel further maintained that state government has set a target to increase the share of the manufacturing sector in the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) from 16 per cent at present to 32 per cent in next 5-7 years. “For this textiles sector is a focus area for the state. From cotton to garment, state government will provide subsidies and incentives,” he said during the inaugural address at the Indian International Fabric Expo 2014 organised by the Power loom Development and Export Promotion Council (PDEXCIL).

He maintained that besides being the largest cotton producer state, Gujarat produces 31 per cent of the country’s total man-made fiber and 38 per cent of the yarn is produced in the state.

The state government has set a target to set up 2.5 million spindles in the next seven years. Mr. Patel maintained that state government’s new textiles policy will encourage investors and create new employment opportunities in state’s textile sector. This would be of benefit to the container trade as the above cargo would be available for export shipments onboard container vessels.

The three-day exhibition has about 100 visitors from 20 countries including Vietnam, Cambodia, Turkey, Sri Lanka, Dubai, Bangladesh, Poland, Canada, Malaysia, Ghana, Senegal, Zimbabwe, Egypt and Australia. The shipping industry would welcome the above development.