Union Minister for Textiles Smriti Zubin Irani today inaugurated Srinagar office of Carpet Export Promotion Council (CEPC) in the premises of IICT Srinagar through video conferencing facility.The inauguration ceremony was held in the presence of Shantmanu, Development Commissioner Handicrafts, Ratnesh Kumar Jha, Additional Development Commissioner Handicrafts, Mahavir Pratap Sharma, Chairman CEPC, Purnima Mittal, Additional District Development Commissioner Srinagar, Zubair Ahmad, Director IICT, and other concerned.Speaking on the occasion, the Union Minister expressed hope that CEPC’s Srinagar office will be beneficial for all the stake holders and will lead to enhance exports and open new avenues for more employment opportunities in the region.She said that Indian Handmade carpet is an age-old industry and has made significant strides in the recent past. She said the industry is highly labour intensive and provides employment to over 2 Million workers.“Kashmir is famous for exquisite high-quality hand-knotted woolen and silk carpets which are symbolic of quality and finesse,” she added.Irani informed that 90,000 applications have been received for the registration under Pehchan initiative and 60,000 Pehchan ID Cards have been distributed to the artisans so far.
She also assured full support to the Kashmir carpet industry for its growth and promotion. Meanwhile, it was given out that Textile Committee in partnership with Development Commissioner Handicrafts (DCH) and CEPC will provide special lab testing facilities at IICT in Srinagar.CEPC and DCH assure availability of designers in collaboration with institutes like National Institute of Design (NID), FDIC etc.Further, Wool Bank will be opened in collaboration with Wool Development Board to ensure availability of sufficient raw wool through the follow up of the office of the DCH.It was also said that for reduction of GST on Pashmina Shawls a suitable proposal of the industry will be recommended to the Ministry of Finance from Ministry of Textiles.CEPC will work closely with JKTPO to help the marketing and branding requirement of the manufacturers and traders from J&K at trade shows within India and across the globe.Chairman CEPC said that Council will also run awareness campaign to educate members of the J&K region about no applicability of GST on weavers of Pashmina shawls and Silk carpets, who make less than 40 Lakhs per annum.