Textile secretary assures TUFS application clearance soon

Surat: Powerloom weavers are elated after textile secretary, ministry of textiles, assured industry stakeholders that pending applications for Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) would be cleared within two months.
About 6,000 applications from the city are yet to be cleared under TUFS scheme for the last two years due to technical reasons. About Rs800 crore funds under TUFS thus are stuck since a long time.
Industry sources said a stakeholder meeting was recently held in Ahmedabad under the leadership of textile secretary, Government of India, Ravi Kumar where representatives of Southern Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SGCCI), Federation of Gujarat Weavers’ Association (FOGWA) and Federation of Indian Art Silk Weaving Industry (FIASWI) participated.
SGCCI president Ketan Desai said, “We have been given assurance by the textile secretary that the pending applications under TUFS would be cleared within two months. If the subsidy amount is cleared then it will boost modernization in the textile sector in Surat.”
Surat has lead over other clusters in Gujarat when it comes to taking benefits under TUFS scheme. Textile entrepreneurs have taken benefits under TUFs making full payments for upgraded machineries. But for the past one-and-a-half-year, the entrepreneurs are still awaiting subsidy amount to be released under the scheme.