The Union Textiles Minister informing about the measures taken by the government to provide relief to textile and powerloom industry said that the government has approved the "Amended Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (A-TUFS)" for technology up-gradation of the textile industry with one time capital subsidy for eligible bench-marked machinery for a period of seven years from 2015-16 to 2021-22, in place of Revised Restructured Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (RRTUFS).

An allocation of Rs. 17,822 crore has been approved for seven years to meet the committed liabilities of Rs. 12,671 crore and Rs. 5151 crore for new cases under ATUFS. Budget provision for the financial year 2016-17 is Rs. 1830 crore. However, there is no specific budget provision for any particular segment, including Handloom sector since the scheme is demand driven.

Ministry has also notified the Scheme for Production and Employment Linked Support for Garmenting Units (SPELSGU) under ATUFS to incentivise production and employment generation in the garment sector vide Resolution dated 25.07.2016.

The additional incentive of 10% will be provided to the garmenting units which would be availing the 15% Capital In1vestment Subsidy (CIS) under ATUFS for the installation of eligible benchmarked machinery after a period of 3 years.

The cap on capital investment subsidy for the eligible machinery in the garmenting units has therefore been enhanced from Rs. 30 crore which was the cap under ATUFS, to Rs. 50 crore. This additional subsidy of 10% will be on achievement of the projected production and employment generation, as stated by the unit in its Detailed Project Report (DPR).

Immediately after the demonetisation initiative to address the issues of shortage of new currency, government has initiated a quick survey of Powerloom units in major Powerloom clusters to assess the impact on the decentralised Powerloom Sector to enable cashless transactions for payment of wages in the textile sector.

Industry Associations and Councils have been advised to promote digital payments for enabling cashless transactions. Also mission-mode campaign in association with the banking sector has been launched to promote digital payments and opening of bank accounts for workers in various textile cluster.