Hyderabad: Telangana Industries Minister KT Rama Rao on Friday sought funds from the Centre for revieving the Handloom industry in the state.
In his letters to the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman and Textile minister Piyush Goyal, KTR sought funds for major projects including the Kakatiya Mega Textile Park (KMTP) at Warangal and the mega power loom cluster at Sircilla.
The minister further asked for an Indian Institute of Handloom Technology, offering the Pochampally Handloom park for the same. He further urged the Union ministers to set up the National Textile Research Institute as well as a Handloom Export Promotion Council in Hyderabad.
He urged the ministers to finalise the National Handloom policy, in order to develop the manufacturing regions for the textile and apparel sector so that projects such as the 1200-acre KMTP, which is based on the `fiber to fashion’ concept, can be suitably benefited.
KTR also sought funds worth Rs 899 crore for the infrastructure development at KMTP. He further urged the centre to sanction funds worth Rs 49.84 crore for the mega power loom cluster at Sircilla, out of the projected outlay of Rs 993.65 crore making up the gaps in the industry, and to implement various components.
KTR has also asked the Centre to allow upgradation of power looms under the IN-SITU scheme and expressed Telangana’s willingness to contribute 50% of the upgradation cost. He also sought the sanction of 15 block-level handloom clusters (BLCs) under the national handloom development programme (NHDP).
The official Twitter Handle of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti also shared KTR’s appeal to the Union ministers recently.