Apparel November 2019 Apparel November 2019 issue | Page 89

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS
of internationally competitive, value-added
products, the policy was formulated to ensure
that Karnataka maintained its dominant presence
in the growing domestic and international markets
and contribute to the sustainable employment
and economic growth of the state, as per the
policy guidelines issued in 2013. The policy also
stated that it will reinforce the value chain of the
textile industry across the state through capital
infusion, technology transfer, skill upgradation,
and handholding.
TURN OF EVENTS
What began as a ray of hope for the textile
industry of Karnataka, actually failed to achieve
its target. As per policy declarations, it aimed
to attract investments worth R10,000 crore
and generate employment for at least five lakh
people during its five-year policy terms. However,
according to a report by Comptroller and
Auditor General of India (CAG), the Karnataka
Textile Policy 2013-18 has failed to achieve this
employment and investment target. As per the
THE TARGETS, FROM
THE WORD GO, WERE
FIXED WITHOUT PROPER
ASSESSMENT OF THE
STATE’S POTENTIAL.
latest report, the shortfall calculated was 63 per
cent with respect to the investment made and 76
per cent on the employment-generation front. It
is not too hard to understand what caused the
failure, as the report mentioned that the targets,
from the word go, were fixed without proper
assessment of the state’s potential and that they
were utopian in their outlook.
Talking about the skill-development training to
unemployed youth, the initial perspective was to
tackle 2.96 lakh individuals. However, this sum
was brought down to 1.09 lakh and the cause
for this, as cited in the report, was inadequate
budgetary support.
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