A promising future ahead for Gujarat's textiles, says Smriti Irani

The textile story of Gujarat has just begun, said Union textiles minister Smriti Irani, after signing MoUs worth Rs 8,835 crore  in textile sector during the Vibrant Gujarat summit.

Gujarat is a one-point sourcing hub for all kinds of textiles, and there are huge possibilities in textile education.

“Given the entrepreneurial spirit of Gujaratis and the investment inflow, the textile story of Gujarat has just begun,” Irani said while speaking at the ‘Make in Gujarat’ theme seminar on ‘Trends & Innovation Impacting the Textile Value Chain’, at Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit in Gandhinagar.

The minister witnessed signing of MoUs worth Rs 8,835 crore in textile sector during the seminar. MoUs have been signed in different sectors such as textile parks, textile processing, machinery, carpet development, etc.

The textiles minister said that Gujarat produces 29 per cent of India’s total cotton production, which indicates the trust of textile industries in the prospects of the state. She assured the support of her ministry to the development of the textile value chain of Gujarat and to explore possibilities in technical textiles and research.

As an area with one of the largest concentrations of textiles in India, Gujarat is a one-point sourcing hub for all kinds of textiles, Irani said. She also said that there are huge possibilities in textile education in Gujarat. She said that the skill development programme in textile sector conducted at 28 ITIs of Gujarat running the textiles courses has recorded a placement figure of 75 per cent.

The minister said that two major institutes of Gujarat, namely, NIFT and NID, and various engineering colleges offer degrees in textile technology, textile processing and textile engineering.