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Govt. Assistance to Weavers to upgrade existing plain Powerlooms

The Government has formulated the In-situ Upgradation of Plain Powerlooms Scheme to upgrade existing plain Powerlooms for implementation during remaining 12th plan period. Under the scheme, financial assistance is provided for upgradation of existing ordinary plain loom with additional features i.e. warp stop motion, weft stop motion, semi positive let off motion, efficient breaking device, anti crack device, replacement of metallic parts by self-lubricating nylon parts, dobby and jacquard.

Government shall provide financial assistance to the extent of 50% of the cost of new indigenous attachments/kits subject to maximum subsidy Rs. 15,000/- per powerloom and the maximum subsidy to a powerloom unit holding eight powerlooms would be Rs. 1,20,000/-. An outlay of Rs.150 crore has been sanctioned for this scheme in the Budget for 12th Five Year Plan. Since this Scheme is approved on 29.5.2013 so no expenditure in last three months.

In the Silk Sector, Central Silk Board (CSB) has provided assistance through State Governments for development of silk weaving sector in the country through implementation of the post-cocoon sector schemes of Catalytic Development Programme (CDP) such as, Support for establishing shuttle-less looms, Support for Handloom Sector for Loom Up-gradation, Support for Certified Handlooms specially designed for silk, Loom Up-gradation through Jacquards (or Dobby/Pneumatic lifting mechanism) and Computer Aided Textile Designing (CATD)

Financial assistance provided by CSB under CDP for the post-yarn activities, including weaving, during the last three years is as under :

Financial Assistance given to States under CDP (Rs.in Lakhs)

Years                                                         2010-11                            2011-12                           2012-13

Financial Assistance                        1,115.17                           1,455.49                           239.14

Under Quality Certification System (QCS) scheme of CSB, the Silk Mark Organisation of India (SMOI) organizes structured & well planned SILK EXPOs in various cities across the country regularly & provides a platform to the Authorized Users (AUs) of Silk Mark to showcase and sell their silk products including sarees. Under this QCS scheme, SMOI has organized 49 Silk Exhibitions in the country during the last three years at different places of the country. No Sericulture production Center has been set up or proposed to be set up. The State Govts.are responsible for the overall development of sericulture in the respective States.

In order to promote production of hand woven silk products, a proposal for inclusion of exports of Vanya Silk products under Vishesh Krishi Gram Udyog Yojana (VKGUY) has been sent to Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) for consideration. Silk exports under Focus Product Scheme (FPS) has been increased from 2% to 5% and Government through Central Silk Board is providing technical support to traditional silk handloom clusters to document the traditional handloom designs for getting Geographic Indications (GI) registration.

The above information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Textiles, Smt. Panabaaka Lakshmi in a written reply in the Lok Sabha recently.

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