Telangana to form textile policy for the sector

Hyderabad, July 23 (KNN) To boost the textile sector in Telangana, the Government is working on the new textile sector policy and has assured that the inputs will be taken from the other stakeholders before finalising the draft of the policy.

As part of policy formulation exercise, Minister for Industries K T Rama Rao held meeting with the textile sector representatives and other stakeholders.

“The Minister held a meeting with representatives of textile industry, weavers associations, and officials of the Government and assured them the suggestions made by them would be considered positively while preparing the policy,” said an official release issued by the Department of Industries.

Telangana cotton farmers produce 60 lakh bales annually, while the consumption of the State is just 10 lakh bales, it said quoting the Minister. Rao assured the government would protect the interests of the handloom industry, it added.

Recently, the state government has taken the decision to  discourage cultivation of cotton from this year. Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao wants the cotton cultivation area reduced from the present 42 lakh acres to 15 to 20 lakh acres.

The decision to discourage cotton cultivation was taken in the wake of World Trade Organisation's (WTO) resolution on cotton exports in a recent meeting at Nairobi to which India was a signatory. India will remove export subsidies on cotton exports from next January. (KNN Bureau)