Union textile minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar said in Coimbatore today that India’s textile exports will achieve its target of USD40 billion this fiscal year.

Replying to a specific question, he said that China and India were competing in export market and that India will catch up with its competitor soon. On the growing technical textile industry, he said that the sector remained untapped until now. He said that the technical textile industry was growing at 20 percent year-on-year, and added that the centre had allocated Rs.200 crores to set up centres of excellence at eight places to produce medical and industrial textiles.

On cabotage rule (allowing empty vessels to transport cotton in order to bring down the prices), he said that the ministry has already spoken to concerned ministries, which have relaxed the rules.

About the suicide of Dalit scholar in the University of Hyderabad, he said that the issue was being raked up by political parties.