Union Minister of Textiles Piyush Goyal recently interacted with the beneficiaries of the Textile Sector from across the country through video conferencing from New Delhi. During the interaction, he urged them to be vocal for local and take local to global. Goyal further noted that ramping up textile production in the country will spur income, open up employment opportunities and play a vital role in making the country ‘Atmanirbhar’ as well. Nearly 10 thousand beneficiaries under different sectors including Handloom, Handicraft, Jute, Silk and Samarth across the country from 398 centres participated in the interaction. A total of 24 beneficiaries from 12 different locations individually interacted with the Minister.

The Minister urged the artisans to register their businesses on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM).  Goyal highlighted that the government is willing to procure the harvest of jute and cotton farmers if the market price is lower than the Minimum Selling Price. The Minister further said that the government is working towards increasing the production of jute and cotton and is willing to provide quality seeds, and fertiliser for quality produce to fulfill the vision of farms to foreign exports.

With a special emphasis on promoting the ‘Made in India’ initiative,  Goyal urged the officials to devise ways for the handicraft beneficiaries to gain from the ‘Handmade in India’ label and register greater income on their products. Stressing the need to redefine and present handicraft and handloom on the world stage, the Minister said that the industry should work towards improving the quality and packaging of the textile products to increase the brand value and income of the artisans and weavers.