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Amritsar textile industry seeks land for exhibition ground
THE Amritsar textile industry has demanded land for a permanent exhibition ground, on the lines of Delhi’s Pragati Maidan, so that it can showcase its products. Piara Lal Seth, president, Shawl Club (India), says, ”What the Amritsar textile industry needs is a permanent fixture, a mini Pragati Maidan which will be the pride of the city and where the industry can on an annual and regular basis display its products in an orderly fashion.” The onus, said Mr Seth, is now on the Punjab government to heed to the industry’s demand. The Shawl Club (India), he said, has urged the state government to give it 1-2 acres of land which can be developed on the public private partnership (PPP) initiative into a permanent exhibition ground. ”We have already sent a feeler to the Punjab government in this context and hope that the state government will take action,” he said. As a first step, the Shawl Club has taken the initiative to organise a two-day buyer-seller meet cum and exhibition in the holy city to showcase the industry’s products and also convey the message that the textile industry which encompasses the whole gamut of manufactured products including blankets, textile fabric, shawls and yarns can cater not only to the domestic buyers but to the overseas customers as well at competitive prices. This two day exercise got a major fillip with the presence of N S Rawat, director, ministry of textiles, government of India, V K Kohli, regional director, ministry of textiles and S K Chaudhuri, area director, India & South East Asia, the Woolmark Company, New Delhi. Mr Seth told ETthe initiative behind the two day event, which concluded on Thursday, is to project the textile industry with the intention of targeting opportunities nationwide as well as the lucrative global arena. As many as 40 exhibitors showcased their products to buyers from textile rich markets of Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad,Surat,Kolkata, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Jammu & Kashmir. He said that the ministry of textiles has sanctioned a sum of Rs 5 lakh to undertake such projects and for promotion of the industry in the current fiscal and Rs 15 lakh will be given for 2008-09. The two day conclave has brought to the fore several issues regarding the development and growth of the textile industry including solutions needed to combat global competition besides issues of high cotton prices, rupee appreciation and consequent losses in export and absence of sufficient downstream integration projects in weaving and processing.