Plan to prop up 'Made in India' tag

While global buyers such as Wal-Mart, Target, JC Penney and Tommy Hilfiger, among others, are setting up base in India for sourcing textile products, think about Indian products being available in the large departmental stores across the globe with 'Made in Surat' tag, 'Made in Tirupur' tag and the likes.

The Union textile ministry is all set to promote Indian textiles with the 'Made in India' tag. The ministry has identified certain clusters such as Tirupur, Surat and Ludhiana, which the ministry plans to promote as brands across the world in the initial phase.

The ministry will also provide 50 per cent of the financial assistance required for the branding exercise, while the remaining 50 per cent will have to be borne by the beneficiaries.

"The scope of marketing Indian textiles is very bright. Our present textile export is around $14 billion and we will make all the efforts to increase it to $50 billion in the next five years. All necessary measures will be taken to secure the leading position for the domestic industry in the world." said Union Textile Minister Shankersinh Vaghela while speaking with Business Standard on Monday.

Recently, the ministry has accepted the recommendations of the textile committee for the inclusion of Surat in the textile cluster development programme.

The entire textile cluster development project in Surat is likely to have investment of around Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion).

The survey of the textile units in Surat will be conducted by Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services. It will cover over 600,000 powerlooms, over 700 texturising units, 400 processing houses and over 1500 jari units.

"The world is eyeing India and in the last few years international collaboration with some Indian textile companies reveals the potential. With the ministry's assistance, the small and unorganised textile manufacturers can work in clusters such as Tiruchirapalli, Surat and Ludhiana and create a brand for themselves," said Atul Chaturvedi, joint secretary, ministry of textiles, Government of India.

According to the textile committee, the survey will cost Rs 3.8 million and will take around six to eight weeks.

The survey which aims to prepare a feasibility report for the project, will also find out the lacunae in the city infrastructure and the steps needed to fill the gap.

Under this project, a convention centre, common effluent treatment plant and captive power plant will be set up to suit the textile units.