Textiles minister Dayanidhi Maran pulled no punches — in fact, he added a fistful — when lashing out at the industry at a CII event here on Tuesday, for “making unreasonable demands time and again”.
A royal hiding for 45 minutes. That’s what the textile industry got when it eagerly queued up with its set of demands for the Union Budget.
Textiles minister Dayanidhi Maran pulled no punches — in fact, he added a fistful — when lashing out at the industry at a CII event here on Tuesday, for “making unreasonable demands time and again”.
What got his goat was representatives seeking more allocation under the government’s Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme, or TUFS.
“The government made available Rs 2,500 crore to the industry in 72 hours last year. And in the upcoming Budget, too, the finance ministry will accommodate the demands of the industry. But it must be noted that most part of the industry has been posting profits (30% upwards). It’s time you stopped coming to the government with a begging bowl. Come up with innovative ideas on improving the sector instead,” Maran said.
The industry has asked for Rs 4,500 crore under TUFS; a part of this — Rs 1,500 crore — will be used to clear the backlog, which is pending since last June.
Over the past 19 years the government has spent Rs 80,000 crore under TUFS. “It is becoming tough for the textile industry to ask for more TUFS,” he said.
Maran pointed out that it’s the spinning sector that has been sucking the maximum amount of TUFS funds. “More than 60% of the TUFS money is given to the spinning sector, while the garment sector, which is more capital intensive, technology driven and the largest employment provider, is hardly a beneficiary,” he said.
The minister lashed out at the industry for failing on the exports front also. He said when the US and European markets crashed last year, the industry should have looked at alternatives.
“Our exports to Japan were only about $150 million, but after slowdown in the western markets, this number has gone up to $300 million. However, this is not sustainable as once the US and European markets open up, the focus will move away from Japan,” he said.
Maran lamented that companies are not focusing on the domestic market, which is worth $40 billion.
“The recession is over and textile sector was the first one to rebound. While there is a focus on exports (we export more than half of what we produce), the industry needs to identify the large potential in the domestic market. After all Indians too need to wear clothes,” he said.
Maran also dismissed the demand for implementation of National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) in the textile industry. “How can we have NREGA when most of the units run by the industry are in the outskirts of Mumbai, Pune, Delhi and Bangalore?”
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