SIMA appeals to new Govt. to resolve TUF issues to boost job creation and exports

Coimbatore: The textile industry is known to be one of the largest employment providers in the country, next only to agriculture.

Coimbatore: The textile industry is known to be one of the largest employment providers in the country, next only to agriculture.

It is reported that the textile industry employs over 110 million people, especially rural women and those below the poverty line, thus enabling inclusive growth in the nation. 

Realizing the importance of making the textile sector globally competitive and grabbing emerging opportunities in the post-WTO era, the NDA government launched the Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) during 1999 and later the same Government extended the Scheme for the period up to March 31, 2022 by allocating Rs.17,822 crores. This budget allocation included Rs.12,671 crores for committed liabilities of Modified Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (M-TUFS), Revised Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (R-TUFS) and Rs.5151 crores for Amended Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (A-TUFS).

The flagship program of the Ministry of Textiles viz., TUF Scheme attracted over Rs.3.75 lakhs crores of investments in the textile industry, during the last two decades and created jobs for over 10 million people, apart from enabling the Indian textile industry to become globally competitive and witness a manifold increase in its exports.

The Scheme was very effective and industry-friendly till 2007 when the Scheme was open-ended and later many complications arose in the guidelines at every stage. This has resulted in a backlog of Rs.9,000 crores of TUF subsidies, severely affecting the financial conditions of the new investors which has stalled potential growth, job creation and forex earning opportunities in the nation.

In a press release issued here, today, P Nataraj, Chairman, The Southern India Mills’ Association (SIMA) has appealed to the new government to resolve TUF issues to boost job creation and exports. He felt that resolving issues in the TUF Scheme and releasing the pending TUF subsidies to the tune of Rs.9,000 crores on a fast track would help the industry to create jobs for lakhs of people, immediately. He has stated that resolving the TUFS issues would bring huge investments across the country, thus creating jobs for millions of people as well as boosting exports. Nataraj has stated that special export garment package and enhanced RoSTCL benefits would yield the desired results only when the TUFS issues are resolved.

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