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.
0 comments:
Post a Comment