The textile industry on Thursday welcomed the approval for a new skill development scheme covering the entire value chain of the textile sector excluding spinning and weaving in organized sector.

The Scheme for Capacity Building in Textile Sector (SCBTS) from 2017-18 to 2019-20 with an outlay of Rs.1,300 crore will have National Skill Qualification Framework compliant training courses with funding norms as per the Common Norms notified by Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE).

In a statement, Tirupur Exporters Association President Raja M. Shanmugham, said the Government has considered its long requisition for allocation of fund to impart skilling to new workers, up skilling, recognition of prior learning is a need of the hour to Tirupur knitwear cluster which employs six lakh workers directly.

Stating that only by enhancing the productivity, the much needed competitiveness can be attained and sustain in the global market, he said that most of the labourers in Tirupur are self-groomed without any proper technical skill orientation or training.

This created an inconsistency in the production and quality parameters resulting in reputation loss for the country as a whole and this void can be addressed effectively, he pointed out.

The estimated turnover of MSMEs in Tirupur cluster is around Rs. 30,000 crores and even a 10 per cent saving would yield a savings of Rs. 3,000 crores for the industry and by a most conservative estimate, even 25 per cent of the industry is converted into ‘Zero Defect’ with minimum savings of 10 per cent would yield a yearly savings of Rs. 750 crores– which in turn would generate an income tax collection at the rate of 30 per cent of Rs. 225 crores per annum to the exchequer, he said.

In another statement, Southern India Mills’ Association Chairman P Nataraj thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who chaired the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs and given the approval and Union textile minister for acceding to the appeal of the industry and announcing the SCBTS.

Stating that Indian textile industry has been lagging in productivity and counties like China, Bangladesh, Vietnam were much ahead in productivity, Nataraj said the new scheme would enable the industry to adopt scientific principles for upgrading the skills of the employees and achieve higher productivity.