TN: CM urge PM to make yarn available at fair price

Chennai, May 20: Expressing concern over the recent hike in price of yarn, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi today urged the Prime Minister to make available required yarn to the state at a reasonable price by invoking the Textile Control Order.

In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, he sought his intervention to address the problem of yarn price hike and give suitable directions to the Textiles Ministry and other relevant Ministries to look into the issue urgently to avoid closure of textile units and unemployment in the state.

He urged the Prime Minister to take steps to make available the required yarn at reasonable price by invoking the Textile Control Order, exercising control over cotton exports and by providing export incentives for home textiles, on a short-term basis to ensure sustainability of the textile industry.

Observing that the textile industry in the State generates huge employment and earns Rs 11,000 crore per year as foreign exchange, Mr Karunanidhi said off late the industry has been facing a lot of problems and the appreciation of Indian rupee had paralysed textile production and led to unemployment in rural areas.

He said in recent months the yarn prices have gone up by ten to 15 per cent and major textile manufacturers and exporters association observed a strike on May 16 at Karur, which was one of the specialised export centres in the country like Kannur (Kerala) and Panipet (Haryana).

Mr Karunanidhi said steps had already been taken to facilitate the textile manufacturers in the State to make their products internationally competitive by removing sales tax on hank yarn and providing free power upto 500 units bi-monthly to each unit at a cost of Rs 120 crore annually.

UNI