New Delhi, Feb 13 (IANS): In keeping with its status as a major textiles market as well as exporter, India will soon have its first Centre for Textiles Trends Forecasting to be set up in the national capital, an official said on Wednesday.
Briefing reporters here, Textiles Secretary Raghvendra Singh said the proposed centre had already received government approval and is slated to become operational as early as within this month in a prime property of the ministry located in the heart of the city.
The complex of facilities in the centre designed to boost India's exports would include an Incubation and Innovation Centre designed to aid "design interventions" and incubate textile start-ups, as well as a first of its kind Crafts and Textiles Depository, Singh said.
"India doesn't have a trend forecasting centre...we depend on international trends, which we then pass on to the craftsmen to make copies.
"It is high time that we became influencers (of trends)," he said.
Announcing that the forecasting centre would be set up this month, the Secretary said that it would make use of commercial intelligence in the sector "to forecast what trend would come in the next six months".
On the proposed Incubation and Innovation Centre for textiles, he said that the Centre had already approved the setting up of this facility to make "imminent design interventions" which will also incubate start-ups.
"The Centre is being launched to contemporise efforts in the textiles sector," he added.
He also cited the progress made under the 100-day outreach programme for MSMEs launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 2 in 100 districts, of which 40 were allotted to the Textiles Ministry.
During this outreach, around 65,000 artisans and 2.5 lakh weavers were issued identity cards that allow them to avail benefits, Singh said.
"Around 13,000 artisans and 9,500 were enrolled for the Mudra loan facility for disadvantaged sections which resulted in Rs 6,500 crore worth of loans granted to MSMEs in the textiles sector," he added.