The Hindu Business Line : TN will set up five handloom export zones

Chennai May 29 The Tamil Nadu Government will set up five handloom export zones under the Centre-sponsored SGSY (Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana) scheme, according to Mr Jairam Ramesh, Union Minister of State for Commerce.

Briefing newspersons here on Tuesday after a review of handloom export performance, he said that the export zones would come up in Nagercoil, a centre for making terry towels; Virudhunagar and Tiruvannamalai for placemats; Kanchipuram for value-added handlooms; and Nagapattinam for silk furnishing.

The first export zone is to come up in Nagercoil by October. Once established in Tamil Nadu, the programme would be extended to more States, he said.

The objective is to provide a new focus for handloom exports and generate jobs. The Centre would provide Rs 60 lakh to each zone under the SGSY scheme with the State Government making available land and infrastructure.

This was part of a strategy to encourage the growth of handlooms where there is potential. Some of the established centres for handloom export are Karur in Tamil Nadu, Panipat, Haryana and Kannur in Kerala. In these places, efforts are on to establish design centres, Mr Ramesh said.

One major concern for the growth of handloom was the gap in data - the latest available data for handloom exports is that of 2002-03 when exports were at $540 million.

"The concern is why in May 2006-07 the country does not have the data for 2006-07." For a sector on which over 6.5 million families depend on for their livelihood, and efforts are on to encourage exports, this was a major gap, Mr Ramesh said.

The marketing strategy is also being revamped to meet the existing strengths. Over two-thirds of exports were in the form of handloom made-ups — carpets and tablemats — and the rest was fabric.

Just one Swedish company Ikea, was the largest buyer of handloom made-ups.

The Handloom Export Promotion Council has decided to focus on such big names including the US-based Wal-Mart, the Minister said.

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