The SME-dominated textiles industry one of the critical sectors of the Indian economy has done well with the Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS), which has provided support to sectoral players through interest reimbursement and capital subsidy. Therefore the Government has decided to extend the TUFS during the Twelfth Five-Year Plan (2012-17). The allocation for TUFS has been raised to Rs 15,404 crore during the Twelfth Five-Year Plan from Rs 8,000 crore approved during the Eleventh Five-Year plan. The restructured TUFS with Rs 1,972-crore subsidy limit was supposed to come to an end on March 31, 2012.
The Ministry of Textiles had already launched the Technology Mission on Technical Textiles (TMTT) to promote and address growth bottlenecks of the segment. The Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan urged the Government to set up public sector venture capital fund, which in turn would facilitate entrepreneurs explore new areas within technical textiles.
