Today, NewsCentral 24×7, quoting a report by the Indian Express, published an article which claimed that Gujarat “Registered a ‘de-growth’ or negative growth in several segments of the textile sector in the last five years, between 2012 and 2017.” The article was supposedly a counter to Union Textile Minister Smriti Irani’s claims about the state receiving an investment worth 30,000 crore rupees in the last four and a half years of Modi government. The article quoted a report by Assocham titled ‘Gujarat: The growing engine for textile and apparel manufacturing’ which it claimed is available to the portal but it did not provide a link to the original report. The article selectively quoted various data points on textile sector of the state to target Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani.
In her speech during Vibrant Gujarat Summit, Smriti Irani talked about the assistance that Gujarat received by the central textile ministry during the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit. She did not raise the point of textile sector growth in the state, the only point the minister talked is the investment. The Union Minister specifically mentioned the amount of investment inflow in the textile sector, that is 30,000 crores.
She did not, however, claim that there was growth or de-growth pertaining to this amount in the concerned sector. Precisely this point was taken out of context by the Indian Express report which was later picked up by some Congress mouthpieces and used maliciously to target the Union Minister.
But the ‘out of context’ article by India Express (which originally published the article) which was later picked up by Khabarbar.com and NewsCentral 24×7, is definitely aimed at maligning the image of a leader who is expected to take on Congress president Rahul Gandhi in upcoming Lok Sabha election.
Union Minister for Textile @smritiirani caught lying about growth in textile sector; ministry report trashes her claim. https://t.co/Up2LFNynGD
— Mumbai Congress (@INCMumbai) January 21, 2019
The article by NewsCentral 24×7 was published just a day after Economic Times, a prominent English newspaper, published an article titled ‘Smriti Irani BJP’s key face to take on the opposition?’ “Is Union Minister Smriti Irani BJP’s ‘go-to’ person for countering the Congress?” wrote the newspaper. This article was published on January 20, 2019, and just after a few hours on January 21, 2019, NewsCentral 24×7 published an article to defame the textile minister.
Investment in any sector takes a few years to produce results. The investment in the textile sector of Gujarat will be fruitful in the upcoming year. The assistance given by the central government will materialize in fruitful growth as domestic and global demand rise. The other steps taken by the central government like the implementation of GST, easing of credit rules for MSME sector are set to help the textile sector in the state.
The exports of cotton fabric and products made from it rose by 25 percent to Rs, 6,704 crore in October this year compared to Rs 5,376 crore in the same month in previous fiscal. The export of man-made fabs/yarn and products made from it grew by 31 percent to Rs, 3,037 crore compared 2,312 crore in October month in last fiscal. The carpet and handicrafts export grew by 52 percent and 24 percent respectively. Overall the textile exports grew by 28 percent while the apparel exports grew at a higher rate of 54 percent. The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) data also suggested the revival of textile and apparel industry with a growth rate of 5.4 percent and 20.9 percent respectively.
The Indian textile exports to the United States increased by one percentage point from a year ago to 33 percent, as per data compiled by JM Financial Institutional Securities Ltd. This is the second consecutive month India increased its US market share. The retail sales this holiday has been one of the strongest in years and this has helped Indian exports.