Rajahmundry, May 11: Andhra Pradesh Handloom, Textiles and Small-scale Industries Minister P Shanker Rao today said that the state government has allocated Rs 312 crore as loan waiver for handloom weavers.Rao said that Rs 118 crore out of the total allocated sum has already been released and remaining amount would be released soon.
He said that the thrift fund scheme and power subsidy were re-introduced for the benefit of weavers after stopped in 2007, adding that subsidy amount has been increased to 20 per cent from the existing 10 per cent.”Rs 10.90 crore has been released to 50 Handloom Weavers cooperative societies in East Godavari district alone under wavier loans scheme to write off loans of the weavers”, Rao said.
The minister said he would hold periodic meetings with all departments in the state government and introduce compulsory wearing of handloom clothes as issued by the government order.For the benefit of small scale industry and promotion of khadi and village entrepreneurs, a pilot project will be introduced with the help of LIDCAP and budget allocation will be raised from Rs 2 crore to Rs 15 crore for this purpose, he said.
——–PTI