The Government of Jammu and Kashmir will safeguard and promote silk industry in the State, Minsiter for Industries, Surjit singh Slathia assured in the Assembly. While paving a visit to the Government Silk Weaving Factory at Rajbagh, which formed part of the state-owned J&K Industries Limited (JKI), Slathia said that the Kashmiri silk fibre was globally renowned for its luster, purity as well as fineness, according to a fibre2fashion report.
The Minister said tha the J&K Government had earmarked Rs 750 million to support public sector undertaking including JKI during the current financialyear. According to the report, the amount included Rs 260 million towards settling claims under the Golden Handshake Scheme and Voluntary Retirement Scheme. Slathia further added that the government would also pool resources to revive the Government Silk Factory.
The Minister informed that a state-of-the-art silk show room was being established in Rajbagh with an investment of Rs 8.5 million. The outlet, likely to be opened by the end of this month, would provide a platform for silk weavers and traders from the area to display and sell their products, the report pointed out.
Slathia hailed the improvement in JKI’s performance and congratulated the corporation for achieving both its fibre production and revenue generation targets during last fiscal. JKI’s production of silk fabric increased from 6,000 metres in 2010-11 to 45,000 metres in 2011-12. What is more, the corporation expects its production to grow to 150,000 metres during the current financial year, added the report.
