Textile industry rose to the challenge of covid pandemic by scaling the production of PPE kits from zero to the position of second largest producer of PPE kits as well as by increasing the production of N95 masks to 32 lakh pieces per day with 2500 companies from the humble beginning of just 2, said Union Textile Minister Smt Smriti Irani after inaugurating Surat International Textile Expo in Surat today.

  

Minister further said that Technical textile is a sunrise sector and she appealed to the entrepreneurs to come and be part of it. Sunrise sectors are sectors which have great future but where gestation period is long. Minister informed that Hon’ble Prime Minister took initiative of providing 1480 crore rupees for National Technical Textile policy which led to the growth of manmade fibre sector.

Minister said on this occasion that she felt happy and proud after touring exhibition as 1100 exhibitors all over the country will take part in this exhibition. Shri Irani specifically praised a local craftsman Shri Chandrakant Patil who created a costly textile machine in Gujarat at half of the cost of imported machine.

The skills of such craftsmen and stalls at the exhibition donning Make In India logo show the future of Aatmanirbhar Bharat, said Minister.

Union Minister of State for Women and Child Development Smt. Debasree Chaudhari and other dignitaries from textile field were also present on this occasion.

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DK/MC

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