Telangana Minister for Industries and IT K.T. Rama Rao has sought Central Government’s support for the textiles and handlooms sector in the State.
In a letter addressed to Union Minister of Textiles Piyush Goyal, he said the Centre had not done anything for the textiles and handlooms sector in Telangana in spite of repeated requests made by the State. Accusing the Centre of not extending any financial help to the textile industry, the Minister said the Narendra Modi Government’s disdain for the textile sector, which provides second highest employment after agriculture, was very unfortunate.
Stating that textiles sector was in doldrums in the country due to the lopsided policies of the BJP Government at the Centre, Mr. Rama Rao said the TRS Government had always given importance to the welfare of weaving community and had taken several proactive measures to strengthen the sector since 2014. However, the Central Government apathy towards the sector was weakening it.
He also criticised the Centre for imposing GST on handlooms products and demanded reduction of GST on textiles, removal of all taxes including GST on handloom products, funds for Kakatiya Mega Textile Park, establishment of Handloom Export Promotion Council and National Textile Research Institute in Hyderabad, setting up Institute of Handloom Technology, funds for upgradation of power looms, establishment of 15 block-level handloom clusters and setting up a mega powerloom cluster in Sircilla.
