Kannur: In the light of distress situation being faced by the handloom sector, Centre is considering a proposal to announce a one-time loan waiver as a financial package to bail out all ailing handloom units in the country, Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh said today.

The Centre has a proposal to restructure handloom units by helping them with one-time loan waiver settlement to boost the traditional sector, Ramesh said after inaugurating the Design Studio here, the first in any Handloom cluster in India.

Observing that majority of handloom clusters in India were facing hard times due to stiff global competition and their inability to get upgraded in tune with the changing technology, Ramesh said he forsaw great potential for the traditional sector to excel in the international market.

Pointing out that the Design Studio, set up with cost of Rs 50 lakh, with the Centre bearing 90 per cent cost of the project, would help the 19,000 odd weaving families in Kannur to revive their units by broadening markets with latest designs, Ramesh announced allocation of an additional Rs 45,00,000 for upgrading it.

The Studio jointly set up by the Chennai-based Handloom Export Promotion Council with the city-based Kerala Textiles Export Organisation is expected to provide further fillip to growth of handloom sector, which Ramesh said has bright future and no longer regarded as a sunset industry.

He said the Commerce Ministry is planning to set up the second design studio at Erode in Tamil Nadu and the third one in Hyderabad shortly.

Source : PTI