Handloom credit may get cheaper

NEW DELHI: The government is considering a reduction in the rate of interest on the credit available to the handloom sector at par with the agriculture sector. It is also planning to restore 10% rebate scheme for the sector during the current fiscal.

���The Government may also launch new schemes to promote the sector in next two months,��� textile minister Shankersinh Vaghela said on Tuesday at the third All India Handloom Board Meeting in the Capital. The Budget ���06-07 proposed to develop 100 new clusters, open 230 yarn depots and promised to introduce a Technological Upgradation Fund for the handloom sector.

���The handloom sector is the largest unorganised economic activity sector next only to agriculture and constitute an integral part of the rural and semi rural livelihood,��� he said.


Handloom sector has about 35 lakh looms. It provides employment to 65 lakh persons, out of which about 62.4% are women and about 35% belong to Schedule Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

The production of cloth in the sector in ���05-06 is estimated at 6,188m square meters, which is 8.14% higher than the production in the previous year.