Deregulate handloom sector to attract FDI:Assocham

New Delhi, Nov 5 (UNI) An industry chamber today advocated complete deregulation of handloom sector to enable the country's textiles economy attract foreign direct investment.

Claiming that textile sector continued to struggle under shackles of stringent laws, Assocham Secretary General D S Rawat lamented that it attracted only 2.5 per cent of the total FDI in Indian industry in the last 15 years.

He suggested flexibility in labour laws and free outsourcing to promote investment in labour intensive and export oriented garment sector.

Contract labour norms should be liberalised for textiles and garments so that units can hire labourers for a few months without the compulsion of having to absorb them permanently, he added.

In an analysis, the chamber said all these measures are necessary to make textiles sector competitive against low-cost exports from China, Pakistan and Bangaldesh.

The sector, Mr Rawat noted, cannot be ignored as it contributed 10 per cent to the country's export earnings and accounted for around 14 per cent of total industrial production.

It provides direct employment to around 35 million people.

There are 2,722 textile mills with a spinning capacity of about 37.34 million spindles, according to Assocham.

UNI SAA MP BST2022