World Bank approves Rs 23 cr for revival of Srinagar silk factory

For revival and restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s world famous Silk Factory at Rajbagh in Srinagar that suffered extensive damage during 2014 devastating flood in Srinagar, the World Bank (WB) has approved Rs23 crore. An official spokesman said that Minister for Industries and Commerce, Chander Parkash Ganga has announced to restore pristine glory of Silk Factory by pooling all the available resources.

Ganga visited the factory in Srinagar and said that the World Bank has already approved Rs 23 crore for its restoration. The fund has been approved under the ‘Livelihood for Composite Market Implementation Centre for Whole chain of Silk Activity at Silk Factory Rajbagh Srinagar’ scheme.

On the occasion, Managing Director, Jammu and Kashmir Industries (JKI) gave a detailed presentation on various aspects of the design drawings for the restoration of Silk Factory.

The officials said that World Bank support would enable the Corporation to upgrade the current infrastructure for increasing silk manufacturing capacity from 12,000 metres to around 5 lakh metres annually.

In order to preserve and revitalize the Silk Factory as a heritage site, the Minister stressed that while restoring its past glory as a major silk producing industry in the country, the need of the hour is to improve its viability as a self sustaining and employment generating Public Sector Unit.