According to the budget proposals submitted by the finance minister in the Parliament, the government has allocated ₹4,373.70 crore for revenue expenditure and ₹19.15 crore for capital expenditure in the coming fiscal. The revised revenue and capital expenditure were ₹3,424.53 crore and ₹18.56 crore for the current fiscal, totalling the amount to ₹3,443.09 crore.

The Indian government has given tremendous focus to research and capacity building in the sector. It has increased the budget for R&D in textiles, the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), the National Technical Textile Mission, and textile cluster development schemes. The total budget for research and capacity building has increased by 70 per cent to ₹646 crore for the next fiscal from ₹380.50 crore in the current fiscal.

Sitharaman has also multiplied the budget allocation for the PM-MITRA scheme. Its budget has increased to ₹300 crore from ₹52.30 crore. The budget allocation for the National Handloom Development Programme has increased to ₹200 crore from ₹190 crore, and the National Handicraft Development Programme has been allocated ₹236 crore, up from ₹171.19 crore for the next fiscal year. Out of this, the budget for the Handicraft Cluster Development Program-Handicraft has increased to ₹30 crore from ₹15.70 crore.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KUL)