Apparel and Garment Making Centre inaugurated in Nagaland

Dimapur, Apr 6 (KNN) With an endeavor to develop entrepreneurship in apparel manufacturing among the local youth and to provide employment to the people locally, an Apparel and Garment Making Centre has been inaugurated in Dimapur, Nagaland.

Union Textiles Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar, while inaugurating the Centre, said that the Apparel and Garment Making Centre has been operationalized in a record time of a little more than one year.

The project to construct an Apparel and Garment Making Centre in every state in the North Eastern Region was launched in Nagaland by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 1, 2014. 

The Minister noted that the apparel industry is most rewarding in terms of revenue generation as well as employment in the entire textile value chain.  

He said that the apparel centres is a small yet significant step in the direction of increasing export share of apparel and garments in overall export of textiles and clothing.

On the occasion, the Minister laid the foundation stone for Muga P3 Basic Seed Station Kobulong, Mokokchung and also launched the newly approved Integrated Eri Silk Development Project, under North Eastern Region Textile Promotion Scheme (NERTPS), for women empowerment and sustainable livelihood in Kohima.  

Viewing sericulture as a high potential area, Gangwar observed that Nagaland can be a forerunner in silk quality and its promotion.

The Minister said that in the last two years, the Ministry of Textiles has sanctioned three major sericulture projects to Nagaland, with Government of India support of Rs 101.25 crore. He said that these projects will support silk production in all three varieties of silk i.e  Eri, Muga and Mulberry, from plantation to finished product to marketing. He said that these projects are expected to help about 5000 farmers engaged in plantation of Eri, Muga and mulberry silk and would increase the overall production of quality silk by three times through various interventions.   

Pointing out handlooms as a deep-rooted tradition in Nagaland, the Minister said that the unique handloom designs and motifs are expressions of the rich cultural heritage of Nagaland. He added that the Ministry intends to take the cultural heritage beyond the boundaries of the state, by giving international recognition through market linkage, technology upgradation and design inputs. 

Nagaland Chief Minister, T.R Zeliang said that the inauguration of the three units would help in skilling Naga youths in becoming professional entrepreneurs. (With PIB Inputs)