AHMEDABAD, June 7: The Union government has no plans to invest in modernisation of nearly 40 NTC mills which are still in running condition according to Textiles Minister Kashiram Rana.He is confident that a solution will be found for the 10,000 out of work labourers of the 10 mills in Gujarat which have been closed down. Out of 119 mills country-wide, almost 79 are non-functional and an ambitious Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) has failed to take off because of lack of funds. Of the Rs 2,005 crore required for the settlement rights of mill workers, Rs 1,800 crore was supposed to be recovered from selling prime mill property in Mumbai. But that project has run into rough weather because of Bombay Municipal Act. The Act prohibits outright sale to one party as each property has to be divided into four parts in which there is provision for slums as well. Thus the textiles ministry would get only about a quarter of the expected Rs 1,800 crore. Rana promised that a new textiles policy would be announcedwithin six months. An expert committee headed by retired IAS official S R Satyam has been formed to formulate the policy. Satyam is an ex-MP care officer and his committee will also include the textiles secretary.At the press conference in the BJP office, Rana appeared to be on an announcement spree as he announced the formation of a Rs 25,000 crore fund to upgrade textile technology. The fund is still in the contemplation stage but Rana feels that he will be able to persuade financial institutions to contribute to it.Rana also said a cotton technology mission would be formed. According to Rana, the mission will study feasibility of fine cotton in the markets. It would look into methods of reducing production costs and gather information about free markets.
