Jaipur, 29 October. Chief Minister Smt. Vasundhra Raje has said that Rajasthan is in the orbit of most important players in the textile and garment sector as it offers investors a complete matrix to invest, grow and flourish. The state is the centre of attraction for investors as it provides special incentives to textile units, trained manpower, abundant power availability and access to market.

Smt. Raje was addressing the inauguration ceremony of 3rd International Apparel and Textile Fair ‘Vastra-2014’ at Jaipur Exhibition and Convention Centre, Sitapura on Wednesday. She said our government is committed to make Rajasthan a destination where every single entrepreneur would want to set up industry. She called upon the entire textiles and apparel industry to make Rajasthan home for textile manufacturing. She asked industries to adopt best in technology and be ready to innovate so that they can build and maintain a competitive age in the global context.

The Chief Minister said Textiles; including Technical Textiles has been included as a thrust sector in the new Rajasthan Investment and Promotion Scheme (RIPS-2014). She said various concessions and incentives have been provided in this scheme. Special focus has been given to Technical Textile Sector by providing 7% interest subsidy. In addition to this, concession in stamp duty, conversion charges and electricity duty have also been provided in the Scheme. Such a pragmatic and forward-looking policy is aimed at both employment generation and investment promotion. She said apart from this, Rajasthan has initiated path-breaking reforms in the field of labour laws. She said these reforms are aimed at ease of doing business and making it easier for companies and employers to hire, train and lay-off workers welfare and employment generation.

Smt. Raje said we need to pay more attention to environmental degradation in the time to come. Looking at environmental pollution it is important for us to promote technologies and processes which reduce consumption of water, chemicals, and energy, she said. Provision of Common Effluent Treatment Plants has been kept in all leading textile processing hubs, she added. In a bid to contain environmental pollution, a special provision for 20% capital subsidy (subject to upper limit of Rs.1 crore) has been provided for setting up Zero Liquid Discharge based ETPs, She said environment friendly products like recycled fibre have been included in the scheme, she added.

The Chief Minister said our efforts are focused on employment generation and government has already committed for creation of 15 lacs new jobs in the State. She said another area where we have taken upon earnest is skill development. An Apparel Training & Design Centre is operating SMART (Skills for Manufacturing Apparel through Research & Training) scheme in the State. Similarly, a pilot project in collaboration of Raymond and RLSDC had been started to train people in apparel making. Both these initiatives are very important for development of textile sector, because textile is still a labour intensive industry, she added.

Industry Minister Shri Gajendra Singh Khinvsar said Rajasthan has its different identity for its textile industry. The Sanganeri Print, Laharia, Bandhej and Jodhuri Coat have unique identity, he added. He was hopeful that Vastra Fair like Stone Mart will soon create a different identity in the world.

Additional Chief Secretary (Infrastructure) and Chairman RIICO Shri C. S. Rajan said the state government has given 5 % exemption in VAT to promote textile industry. Principal Secretary, Industry Smt. Veenu Gupta said ‘Vastra-2014’ will provide a platform for growth of the textile industry of our country. Secretary General of FICCI Dr. A. Didar Singh, Deputy Secretary General of FICCI Shri Vinay Mathur, delegates from India and abroad, buyers and sellers are participating in this three day mega event.

After inaugurating the fair Smt. Raje also inaugurated the Rajasthan and Karnataka pavilion by cutting the ribbon. She visited these pavilions, handloom stalls of Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh and other stalls of the Vastra 2014. She showed keen interest in Leharia, Bandhej, Sanganeri Print, Kota Dorea, Bagru Hand Block, Kantha Work and Barmer Embroidery work during her visit of Rajasthan pavilion.

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