Monday, 07^th January 2019, New Delhi: Ministry of Textiles organized Textile Show “Artisan Speak” and National Conference on Textiles “Accomplishments and Way Forward for Textiles Sector” to highlight the achievements of textiles sector in New Delhi on 5^th & 6^th January 2019.

The two-day event was inaugurated with a Textiles Show “Artisan Speak” – the first ever Fashion Event in the premises of Lal Qila – to celebrate India’s rich textile legacy and to honour those who have contributed to the promotion of handloom and handicraft.

At the event, the Ministry honoured seven stalwarts of the textile sector. They were awarded ‘Special Recognition Awards in the Textile Sector’ towards their contribution to the textile industry.  Among the awardees was Craft Revivalist and Textile Conservationist Ms. Madhu Jain, Shri Kiran B. Malali (scientist), Shri D. Ramesh Devangan (Weaver), Shri Vijaya Kumar (Scientist), Shri Suresh Kotak (Chairman, Kotak & Co), Shri Mani Chinnaswamy (MD, Appachi Cotton) and Shri Sunil Sethi (President, FDCI).

For the growth of the textiles sector, the two-day event charted out a road map for building new capabilities for sustainable and resource efficient growth of the textiles sector. 

During the program, an outreach event of the “Accomplishments and Way Forward for Textiles Sector” was inaugurated by Hon’ble Minister of Textiles, Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani on January 6, 2019. On the occasion, a short film on the achievements of the Ministry of Textiles was also screened.

Hon’ble Minister of State for Textiles, Shri Ajay Tamta, Secretary Textiles, Shri Raghvendra Singh and other senior officers of the Textiles and other Ministries/ Departments of Government of India also attended the programme.

Participants from the government and industry addressed the inaugural session which was followed by panel discussions on Technical Textiles, Ease of Doing Textiles Business and Access to Global Markets and Supply Chains. CITI Chairman, Shri Sanjay K Jain was on the Ease of Doing Business Panel and he listed out important points to further improve the significant headway made over the last 4 years on this count.

Weavers, artisans, investors and corporates contributed immensely towards the achievements in the textiles sector and to express gratitude for their contribution the function concluded with an award ceremony presided over by the Hon’ble Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu. The Vice President conferred the awards “Thread of Excellence” on 17 persons for their outstanding contribution in the field of textiles sector. The Awardees included five young bright minds who have achieved outstanding success in Textiles and Clothing Business in recent years with the “Outstanding Young Entrepreneurs  Award’. The Outstanding Young Entrepreneurs Awardees included Shri Pathik Patel, Basil Commodities Private Ltd in Fibre category, Shri Prashant Mohota, Gimatex Industries Pvt. Ltd. in Yarn and Fabric category, Shri Shreyaskar Chaudhary, Pratibha Syntex Ltd for Garments and Made-ups, Shri Amit Kailash Khator, Khator Technical Textiles Ltd. for Technical Textiles and Ms. Mythili A, Vishwaa Apparels in Special Young Women Entrepreneur category.