Comments
India plans to attain self-reliance in raw silk and plans to bring imports to zero level by 2020.
“With consistent supply of raw silk of high quality in adequate quantities and the country seeing increased production of bivoltine silk, we will be able to attain self-sufficiency,” KM Hanumantharayappa, Chairman, Central Silk Board (CSB), told reporters.
Towards achieving this objective, CSB has been making concerted efforts and developing new technologies for quality cocoon production and its conversion into silk yarn of global standards.
He said, “The Board is working towards self-reliance and we will bring imports to zero level by 2020. Currently, we are producing nearly 4,000 tonnes of 4A grade of silk, equivalent to the top grade of silk imported from China.”
The silk production is around 28,000 tonnes, of which 10,000 tonnes account for Crossbreed mulberry variety.
“There is a gap between silk production and demand, besides shortage of skilled manpower, necessitating imports. To bring this to end the Central Silk Technological Research Institute (CSTRI) under funding from the board has developed indigenous Automatic Reeling Machine (ARM) and it will be supplied to reelers from next year,” he said.
Hanumantharayappa said the Board is launching its second Centre of Excellence (CoE) at its headquarters in Bengaluru which is expected to be inaugurated by Union Textile Minister Smriti Irani.
Managed by the Central Silk Technological Research Institute, the CoE will conduct specialised skill training and advanced short-term and long-term courses in silk reeling, spinning, twisting, weaving, processing, finishing and computer-aided design development and colour matching, besides packaging.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.