NEWS BRIEFS ogy of manufacturing and they also need to improve their designs and presentation of products. “We have to learn from our competitors various aspects of designs, manufacturing, finishing and presentation,” added Dr. Rao. Dr. Rao also released a trend book on Indian Fashion Jewellery and Accessories Spring Summer and Autumn Winter collection. The IFJAS 2013 has around 205 exhibitors and product range on display are Hi fashion jewellery, semi precious jewellery, stoles, scarves, shawls, hand bags, clutch purses, belts, wallets, neck ties, beads, stones, crystals, head, hair accessories, fancy fashion footwear, tattoes and bindies. Ms. Zohra Chatterji, Secretary Textiles and Mr. S.S. Gupta, Development Commissioner (Handicrafts) also graced the occasion with their presence.
Industrial policy ignores existing industry, say Amritsar textile unit owners Amritsar : Even as the majority of textile processing units vanished from the city in the past decade, the successive governments never bothered to get to the root of the problem. The owners of many textile units are perturbed as the recently released industrial policy failed to provide relief to this indigenous industry. Hardit Singh Makhni, general secretary, Textile Manufacturers' Association said, "It will be better if the government releases its industrial policy in two parts in future. One for attracting fresh investment and new industries and another for the existing industries of the state." He said the imposition of multiple
The Union Textiles Minister releasing the Trends Book on Indian Fashion Jewellery & Accessories, at the inauguration of the IFJAS 2013 Highlights *
Owners of textile units in Amritsar rue that the recently released industrial policy has failed to provide relief to the struggling textile units
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They say highly labour intensive processing units, which have employed thousands of workers, are being forced to shut down
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Imposition of multiple taxes, costly raw material and the government's failure to modernise plants are seen as the factors responsible for the local industry's plight
taxes, costly raw material, an unsupportive attitude of the government and failure to modernise plants led to the closure of several units, most of which shifted to Gujarat. “The conducive environment the Gujarat government provided to the processing units in Surat, coupled with its superior geographical location, the Gujarat industry has grabbed a major share in the domestic textile market,” said Krishan Kumar Sharma, presiNCM-JULY 2013 98
dent of the Amritsar Textile Processors Association. He said the local processing units had raised the standard of textile in the country. There were about 250 processing units till nineties here, but now the number had come down to a meagre 40 and that too is in small and medium enterprises category, he added. The Gujarat Government has come up with industrial areas equipped with common treatment plants and other facilities which has brought it on the industrial map of the country On the other hand, Amritsar’s tail end location made it a costly affair for the local industrialists to compete in the national market. A majority of the textile processing units were set up here during the textile boom of the 1960s-70s. Fabric from Surat and Mumbai are better in quality and lower in price. Different excise tax slabs for composite and independent units, too, dealt a blow to the local industry. The nonimplementation of subsidy, as an-