Weavers will be protected

Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, Apr 24 (UNI) Andhra Pradesh Textiles, Handlooms and Labour Minister G Vinod today said the State Government would not encourage the textile industry at the cost of the handloom sector.

Talking to reporters here after participating in a seminar on "textilee industry trends and opportunities", he said the state government was determined to protect handloom weavers. "We will not sacrifice the interests of the handloom weavers. There is no conflict between textile industry and the handloom sector", he added.

Earlier, speaking at seminar, the Minister said the textile industry in Europe had collapsed due to exhorbitant overheads and heavy wages. "India should exploit the situation and fill the void" he observed.

The Minister said India should export value added products instead of raw cotton.

Andhra Pradesh Cotton Association Vice-President S Punniah Chowdhary stressed the need to modernise the textile factories in the state.

UNI XR VV ADB1815