Hyderabad, Aug 6 (IANS): The Telangana government on Saturday urged the Centre to support the textile and handloom sector in the state, calling for reducing GST on textiles and removing all taxes including GST on handloom.

State Industry Minister K.T. Rama Rao has written a letter to Union Textiles Minister Piyush Goyal seeking funds for the Kakatiya Mega Textile Park, establishment of Handloom Export Promotion Council and National Textile Research Institute in Hyderabad and setting up Institute of Handloom Technology.

He also sought funds for the upgradation of powerlooms, establishment of 15 block-level handloom clusters and a mega powerloom cluster in Sircilla.

He alleged that the Centre has not done anything for the textile and handloom sector in the state. Accusing the Centre of not extending any financial help to the textile industry, the minister said that Modi government's "disdain" for the textile sector, which provides employment to the largest number of people in the country after agriculture, is very unfortunate.

Claiming that the Central government has not provided any additional financial assistance to the state's textile and handloom workers, Rama Rao said that instead of giving false statements about the Centre's help to Telangana textile and handloom sector, the Prime Minister and the other Central ministers should sincerely try to extend their help to the weavers of the state.