Vaghela urges PM to sort out garment exporters' problems

Ahmedabad, Sep 29 (UNI) Union Textile Minister Shankarsinh Vaghela today said that he has urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to sort out the problems sufferred by Indian garment exporters in the international market.

''Owing to the devaluation of Indian rupee against the American Dollar in the international market, garment exporters from India incurred heavy losses. I have recently met the Prime Minister and urged him to sort out this issue,'' Mr Vaghela said while addressing a conference 'Texcellence 07' focussing on textile and allied sector here.

''Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) for textile and jute industries has borne fruitful results with the assistance of Rs 40,000 crore to the textile sector in India in the past three years,'' he said.

''When the textile industry in Surat was devastated by last year floods, we helped it by granting more than Rs 70 crore,'' he added.

Talking about the different dimensions of the textile industry, Jay Narayan Vyas, Editor of Textile Review which organised the conference, said ''Textile industry is not just about garments.

Today in a technology savvy era, textile industry is producing high-tech uniforms for soldiers equipped with global positioning system, which can locate its wearer in any difficult terrain.'' ''Gujarat plays pivotal role in production of high-tech garments.

In south Gujarat, garments for parachutes and bulletproof jackets are produced,'' Mr Vyas said.

UNI