The Uttar Pradesh government is set to launch a new scheme under which power looms will operate with solar energy, which will not only save conventional energy but also make the finished good eco-friendly.
The new scheme will be named Chief Minister Weaver Solar Energy project.
“For this, all the formalities have been completed. If the plan is implemented, the consumption of conventional energy will be reduced, which in turn will reduce the cost of production and the profit of the weavers will also increase,” a government spokesman said here on Thursday.
A provision of Rs 10 crore has been made in the budget to energise power looms with solar energy.
UP has a rich tradition in the textile industry. The basis of this tradition was first handloom and later power loom. Even today, 34 districts of the state are handloom dominated. The number of handlooms, handloom weavers, and weavers' cooperatives in UP is 1.91 lakh, 0.80 lakh, and 20,421, respectively. Mau, Ambedkar Nagar, Varanasi, Meerut, Kanpur, Jhansi, Etawah, and Sant Kabir Nagar districts are power loom dominated.
“Connecting handlooms and power looms with solar energy in a phased manner will be in line with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's intention to make Uttar Pradesh the textile hub of the country,” the spokesman said.
He said the government would connect 50,000 weavers of Varanasi with banks in three months and grants would also be made available to them under the One District One Product (ODOP) scheme by linking them with banks.
It has also been decided in a meeting of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) department and bankers that formalities will be relaxed as per the need in this regard. The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) will also help in this campaign. Already about 25,000 weavers are registered on the portal of the Handloom department. Their form will be uploaded by August 15.
