Gujarat, through its focused policy for textile industry, will regain its lost glory of ‘Manchester of the East’. In the next five years, Gujarat will emerge as the country’s textile hub offering business as well as employment opportunity, Saurabh Patel state finance minister maintained here on Tuesday.

Holding the Congress responsible for the plight of Gujarat’s textile industry, Patel said, “Textile industry had earned the city of Ahmedabad a name of ‘Manchester of the East’ in the pre-independence era. But because of the wrong policies of the Congress this industry has died down.”

Patel further maintained that state government has set a target to increase the share of manufacturing sector in the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) from 16 per cent at present to 32 per cent in next 5-7 years. “For this textiles sector is a focus area for the state. From cotton to garment, state government will provide subsidies and incentives,” he said during the inaugural address at the Indian International Fabric Expo 2014 organised by the Powerloom Development and Export Promotion Council (PDEXCIL).

He maintained that besides being the largest cotton producer state, Gujarat produces 31 per cent of the country’s total manmade fibre and 38 per cent of the yarn is produced in the state.

The state government has set a target to set up 2.5 million spindles in the next seven years. Patel maintained that state government’s new textiles policy will encourage investors and create new employment opportunities in state’s textile sector.

The three-day exhibition has about 100 visitors from 20 countries including Vietnam, Cabodia, Turkey, Sri Lanka, Dubai, Bangladesh, Poland, Canada, Malaysia, Ghana, Senegal, Zimbabwe, Egypt and Australia.

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