The government of India has initiated a proposal for setting up a Hastkala Academy at New Delhi under which research work on development of the handicraft sector will be taken up, Parliament was informed today by Textiles Minister Smriti Irani in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

Smriti Irani said that an amended technology upgradation fund scheme (ATUFS) is in place for the textiles industry, which as become effective from January.

An allocation of Rs 17,671 crore has been approved for seven years to meet the committed liabilities of Rs 12,671 crore and Rs 5,151 crore for new cases under ATUFS.

The ATUFS scheme is aimed at boosting the textiles sector. It has also a provision for one time capital subsidy for eligible benchmarked machinery in different sectors including technical textiles and garmenting.