The government on Monday announced setting up a handloom mega cluster each in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, a powerloom mega cluster in Rajasthan besides new mega clusters for carpets in Srinagar and Mirzapur.
"These (the mega clusters) will help preserve the magnificent textile traditions in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu and generate thousands of jobs in Rajasthan,” Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said.
“In addition, I propose to add new mega clusters for Carpets in Srinagar (J&K) and Mirzapur (UP).”
The government had announced mega handloom clusters at Varanasi and Sibsagar and two mega powerloom clusters at Erode and Bhiwandi.
The sector which is one of the worst impacted by the global economic downturn was however looking for a more short-term oriented stimulus.
“This is a mixed opportunity for the government to pull the export oriented and labour intensive sector out of the current crisis,” R.K. Dalmia, President, Century Textiles, said.
“Increased allocation for integrated textile parks and announcement of two mega parks for handlooms and powerlooms are welcome, the benefit of these measures would take a while to materialise.”