Addressing a webinar organised by the Swarajya Magazine in association with Vedanta Resources earlier today (8 April), Union Textiles Minister Smriti Zubin Irani laid out her vision for India’s textile industry under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan.
The minister began by stating that the prospects for the textile industry are bright and textile manufacturing opportunities in the country are aplenty. She highlighted that the Indian textile industry is now looking beyond the simple cloth and expanding to new sectors like technical textiles.
Irani said it is the first time in the history of the country that a concerted effort has been made by the government and the industry in the field of technical textiles.
The minister underlined that until recently, no manufacturing unit in India had manufactured end-to-end personal protective equipment or PPE suit. When Covid-19 hit and borders were closed, one thing that hindered the industry was the lack of machinery, and the government stepped in to help, the minister added.
The minister also spoke about the National Textile Policy, at length, which has been in the making since 2016.
The National Textile Policy is a work in progress, the minister said.
She noted that the recent labour and agriculture reforms had not been done by the government when the conversation on the issue began.
“Now these two historical reforms have been undertaken plus prospects such as PLI scheme have been pronounced. That is why you have a policy which is a work in progress,” Irani said, adding, “you could not have shared the policy and then post-facto said let’s wait for agriculture reforms, then wait for labour reforms”.
The interaction was a part of the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ Webinar Series organised by Swarajya Magazine, in association with the Vedanta Group.