Hundreds of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the knitting industry will have a direct access to yarn at competitive rates with the setting up of a yarn bank at the knitwear cluster. Experts said the bank would provide an opportunity to knitters to arrest the price fluctuations and eliminate middlemen.
To give a boost to the knitwear clusters — Tirupur, Ludhiana, Kanpur and Kolkata — Union Textiles Minister Smriti Zubin Irani yesterday announced a slew of measures, including setting up of a yarn bank for the knitting industry.
Ludhiana is a hub of knitwear sector with around 10,000 MSMEs units. The turnover is around Rs 40,000 crore.
“This yarn bank will go a long way in promoting the knitwear industry. It is useful particularly for MSMEs, as they have to shell out Rs 5-10 per kg more for yarn than their bigger counterparts. With the setting up of the yarn bank, bulk purchases can be done which will lead to competitive pricing, thereby benefitting the buyers,” said KG Exports’ MD Harish Dua.
Experts said this would also help knitters to plan their production schedule in advance. The Centre will assist in setting up the yarn bank with a support of Rs 2 crore. “The bank is expected to safeguard the interests of yarn buyers in case of sharp fall in prices. We had a meeting with members and soon an SPV will be floated to set up and run the bank,” he said.
The Textiles Ministry also gave a nod to set up Knitwear and Knitting Skill University which will help the industry in introducing new designs and fill the skill gap shortage. Besides, the ministry has also approved the creation of “Knitwear Mark” to give quality assurance to customers and modernisation of units.
“It was a much-needed initiative and will definitely boost the knitwear sector, provided the measures taken by the government are implemented in a time-bound manner,” said Ajit Lakra, MD, Superfine Knitters Ltd.
A scheme envisaging creation of new service centres on PPP model by the industry and association in the knitting and knitwear clusters was also launched. It entails modernisation and upgrade of existing power loom service centres and institutions run by knitting and knitwear clusters.

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