The Maharashtra government on Wednesday announced the setting up of a study group to look into issues facing the power loom industry and recommend changes to the state’s new textile policy to help the power loom industry.
Textile Minister Chandrakant Patil made the announcement while replying to a calling-attention motion by Rais Shaikh, Samajwadi Party MLA for Bhiwandi (East).
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Patil also announced that the government was going to distribute 24 lakh sarees to BPL women and that all the sarees would be made in power looms. He said Shaikh would also be part of the study group and that a government resolution on the study group would be issued soon.
“In Maharashtra, after agriculture, power looms make a big contribution to employment. Power loom operators must get more benefits and support. While drafting the textile policy, many stakeholders were consulted and their suggestions were incorporated. Then we cleared the policy, but MLA Rais Shaikh has said that power loom operators were not considered enough. So we will form a study group. There are three centres, Ichalkaranji, Malegaon and Bhiwandi, that have power looms. The stakeholders and elected representatives will be part of the group,” Patil said in the Assembly.
“We will provide resources for the study group to visit the centres and it can submit a proposal. We are giving 24 lakh sarees to BPL women between Makar Sankranti and Holi. All these sarees will be made in the power looms of Maharashtra. As for the power subsidy, we will take up the issue with the energy minister and the finance minister,” he added.
Shaikh said the textile policy has not considered power looms. “We thank Textile Minister Chandrakant Patil for announcing the study group. I have been included in the study group and Patil has also agreed to visit Bhiwandi, which is a hub of power looms. This is the first time that the government has given an identity to power looms in the textile policy.”
The MLA said that power looms had got priority in the saree distribution scheme for the first time.
Shaikh also said that Patil had assured that the government would clear pending files related to the subsidy for power loom operators. “In 2019, the Maha Vikas Aghadi has announced a subsidy for power looms. Minister Patil has agreed that this is pending and we demand this subsidy be approved immediately. The power loom industry will get a new lease of life. Based on the study group’s findings, the textile policy can be refined and made much more effective and dynamic,” he said.
In his written reply, Patil said there were around 12,70,000 looms in Maharashtra. “These looms are around 50 per cent of the number of power looms in the country. Eighty per cent of the looms in the state are simple, old-fashioned looms or looms made by local manufacturers, producing basic textiles required in the country. Export-oriented textiles are not generally produced on simple looms,” he said.
According to the minister, 20 per cent of the export-oriented and quality textiles are produced on automatic looms. “These machines are providing direct and indirect employment to around 30 lakh people in the state. The textiles industry is the second-largest employment generator in the country, after agriculture. Besides providing a large amount of employment, the government is getting a large amount of revenue from this sector,” he said in his reply.
“A new Integrated and Sustainable Textile Policy 2023-28 was announced in June 2023, which aims to attract investment of Rs 25,000 crore and create employment up to 5 lakh in the next five years. Under the Integrated and Sustainable Textile Policy 2023-28, zone-wise incentives for the handloom sector have been provided,” he added.
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