Fashion comes to Sonia's constituency

New Delhi, May 24 (UNI) The art of catwalks and ramps could soon embrace Rae Bareli, the Lok Sabha constituency of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

The fashion statement in the country's most high profile constituency comes in the form of a campus of the prestigious National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT).

According to Union Textiles Minister Shankersinh Vaghela, the government proposes to set up the eighth NIFT campus in Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh.

The proposal is currently with the Planning Commission, he adds.

The Textiles Ministry has given its nod to the proposal and a NIFT campus in Ms Gandhi's constituency could become a reality once the Planning Commission okays it, sources say.

Four other states - Haryana, Punjab, Assam and Kerala - have shown interest in having their own NIFT campuses, Mr Vaghela says.

The Textiles Ministry, which runs the premier fashion institute, does not want to invest any money in setting up more campuses. The expenditure for one new campus is an estimated Rs 25 crore.

''If any state is ready to spend this money, we can consider setting up NIFT campuses there,'' says Mr Vaghela, who is not ready to hand over any new NIFT campus to private players.

NIFT presently has seven campuses in New Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Gandhinagar, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai.

The Textile Ministry has plans to set up its centres in Mauritius and Dubai. The proposal for Mauritius is currently being considered by his ministry, says Mr Vaghela who expressed confidence that the first overseas NIFT campus would come up in Mauritius.

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