PM clears Rs 1,000 crore waiver package for weavers

Lucknow, Sep 13 (UNI) The Centre is contemplating an ambitious Rs 1,000 crore loan waiver package for handloom weavers in the country, Union Textiles Minister Shankarsinh Vaghela said today.

''Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had convened a meeting in this regard and given a go ahead which would benifit lakhs of handloom weavers of the country,'' Mr Vaghela told reporters here.

It was being felt since quite long that the handloom weavers should also be treated at par with farmers who were given certain concessions, the minister said. ''Handloom workers had loans amounting to Rs 1000 crore which was being considered for waiver.'' Efforts were also on to reduce the high loan interest rate of 12 per cent to 8-8.5 per cent and the rates would be applicable once the package was implemented, Mr Vaghela added.

The Handloom sector, growing at the rate of about 10 per cent annually, has contributed about Rs 3,300 crore of exports last year.

In reply to a question, he said the government had also decided another Rs 550 crore scheme for revival of 15 out of 22 National Textiles Corporation (NTC) mills in the country. The process of revival would start within a couple of months and would be completed soon.

Referring to the sick textiles unit in Kanpur, once described as the 'Manchester of India', he said one or two mills presently of British India Corporation (BIC) were likley to taken for revival after merging these with NTC. The move would revive the age old brands of 'Lal Imli' and 'Dhariwal'.

Mr Vaghela said the textiles ministry had also planned 37 marketing outlets on the lines of 'Dilli Haat''. The success of 'Dilli Haat' had encouraged the ministry to go for setting up more such markert meant to promote handicrafts of various parts of the country.

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