On Wednesday, Gujarat Government announced new textile policy for next five years in order to attract cotton textile entrepreneurs to set up shops in Gujarat.
It expects an investment of Rs 20,000 crore over five years, 25 lakh new jobs, of which 50% will be for rural women. It focuses on 4Fs (farm, fibre, fabric, foreign). It focuses on value addition of cotton within the state. At present 90% of state’s cotton is sold in other states.
“Gujarat is the state where 35% of the country’s cotton is grown. However, out of the cotton grown (1.23 lakh bales last year) in the state, 90% is either exported or goes to other states as raw material,” Gujarat’s industries minister Saurabh Patel said. “The new policy’s objective is better price realisation for raw cotton produce at the national and international levels by the way of value addition across the entire chain,” he said.
The state government has announced a 5% interest subsidy on bank loans for five years for those who establish new plants for ginning, processing, weaving and knitting.
