The Ministry of Textiles, Government of India in collaboration with Invest India organized an ‘Exclusive Investment Forum’ webinar. As part of the series, today’s edition focused on textiles and apparel sector.

Only five states were invited, Assam being one of them. Other states included Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana. The webinar saw discussion on domestic manufacturers, state clusters, scope of apparels, textile machineries, yarn, supply chain and man-made fibres (MMF).

Participating from Assam, Patowary said, ‘As per the 4th All India Handloom Census, Assam has the highest number of looms and weavers in India. With 10.9 lakh weaver households and 10.19 lakh looms, the cottage industry provides huge employment opportunities to the people.’ Citing that Assam has a good textile and export policy, Minister Patowary invited the textile investors to Assam and assured customized support to their business ventures in Assam.

Patowary said, ‘Assam has a textile park and is soon contemplating to set up another mega textile park. Assam offers the advantage of seamless connectivity to East Asia. With the advancement of the Act East policy, Assam is now the Centre of South East Asia with access to 80 million people.’

Ravi Capoor, Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, highlighted the ecosystem for textile sector in India and presented the latest initiatives and schemes of Government of India for promotion of textile industries in India.

Dr KK Dwivedi, Commissioner and Secretary, Industries and Commerce Department made a brief presentation on the state’s advantages for textile majors. He added that the State produces 4650 MT of eri, 156.96 MT of muga, 59.50 MT of mulberry per year.

Gautam Nair, Chairman, CII Task Force; Dr. A. Sakthivel, Chairman, Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) and over 100 business leaders from various parts of the country participated in the webinar.