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Union Minister Giriraj Singh said the textiles sector is turning into another key source of income for the people after agriculture. He said 4.6 crore people in the country are employed in the sector at present, which is substantially higher than the figure before 2014, the year the BJP-headed NDA under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi formed the government at the Centre. Going by the roadmap, the number of people sustaining from the sector will reach the 6 crore mark in 2030.

Underscoring that the Narendra Modi government has made innovation as the bottomline for the goal of 'Atma Nirbhar Bharat', the minister said, before 2014 there was no start-up whereas now 1.5 lakh people are associated with start-up ventures. He said a new concept of technical textile has added a new dimension and it has greatly benefited the medical sector churning out products like sanitary napkins and masks. He said by 2030, 13 million tonnes of fibre will be used but there will not be any scarcity as both natural and man-made fibres will be in abundance due to the policy of the Modi government.

He said India has so much diversity in textile, jute, natural fibre, mulberry, tussar--whatever silk is available in the global market is produced in India. He said the government will revive the jute sector, for which Rs 12,000 crore has been earmarked. Describing Kolkata as the 'mother of textiles', he said that post-independence, the eastern metropolis and Mumbai had been textile leaders but the city lost its pre-eminence over the decades. India's textile industry has moved past China and is moving ahead.