Textile sector to employ 6 crore people by 2030: Union Minister Giriraj

Kolkata: Union Textile Minister Giriraj Singh on Wednesday night said the textile sector turning into another key source of income for the people after agriculture.

Speaking at a road show in the run up to the Bharat Tex 2025, the Global Textile Expo in New Delhi in February, Singh said 4.6 crore people are employed in the textile sector in the country at present, which is substantially higher from the figure before 2014.

"Going by the roadmap by 2030 the number of people sustaining from the sector will reach the six crore mark in 2030," he said.

Underscoring that the Narendra Modi government has made innovation as the bottomline for the goal of 'Atma Nirbhar Bharat', he said "Before 2014 there was no start up whereas now 1.5 lakh people are associated with start-up ventures."

Singh said a new concept of technical textile has added a new dimension and it has greatly benefited the medical sector churning out products like sanitary napkins and masks.

Singh said by 2030 AD, 13 million tonnes of fibre will be used but there will not be any scarcity as both natural and man made fibres will be in abundance due to the policy of the Modi government.

"India has so much diversity in textile,....jute, natural fibre, mulberry, tussar .... whatever silk is available in the global market that is produced in India," Singh said, pointing out the government is committed to work to strengthen this diversity.

He said in coming days the government will revive the jute sector, for which Rs 12,000 crore has been earmarked.

Describing Kolkata as the 'mother of textiles', Singh said post-Independence Kolkata and Mumbai had been textile leaders but the city lost its pre-eminence over the decades.

Singh said India's textile industry has moved past China and is moving ahead.

"People would say our garments faced competition from Bangladesh and Vietnam. China was above us in cotton but not any more. Through innovation and start-ups we are racing ahead. While every other country's economy suffered a setback after Covid, our economy continued to grow at 7-8 per cent rate.

Union MoS textile Pabitra Margherita said the upcoming Bharat Tex 2025 will be building bridges of culture with the world.

Marghetia said Kolkata's contribution in this remains immense ""as Bengal is the cradle of heritage handlooms from famed baluchari sarees to jamdan.

Stating India is moving towards a 5 million trillion worth textile market, he said there is a need to form a textile value chain.