Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani urged the Tamil Nadu government and handloom exporters to redress the lack of information about Goods and Services Tax (GST) among weavers.

Ensure small weavers and artisans, who think they are within the ambit of GST, understand that those earning less than ₹20 lakh a year are exempt, she said.

Speaking at the 28th National Handloom Export Awards function organised by the Handloom Export Promotion Council(HEPC), the Minister urged handloom exporters to highlight various subsidies and welfare schemes available to the weaving community. After giving away the best performance awards to handloom exporters for the years 2014-15 and 2015-16, she said that the maximum number of awards going to a place like Panipet, which is not a premier in handloom industry, is a matter of pride. “Under the Hathkargha Samvardhan Sahayata (HSS) Yojana, weavers are trained and supported by the government through financial assistance to the extent of 90 per cent of the cost of new looms along with accessories. “Exporters should guide small weavers to avail themselves of this facility. The Minister also asked weavers to benefits from schemes like the MUDRA. “Twenty-eight per cent of the beneficiaries under the MUDRA scheme are new entrepreneurs and 70 per cent of them are women.” Irani said adding that Tamil Nadu is one of the State which has the maximum number of the beneficiaries under the scheme.

Citing a 2009 handloom industry census, Irani said that only one per cent of children from the handloom community are completing higher education and highlighted a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) executed between the textile industry and the National Open University, under which the government will bear up to 75 per cent of the fee of the children from the community.

The Minister also urged exporters to explore product diversification, design innovation and product placements to grow in the international market.

Published on July 6, 2018