Imphal: Manipur industry minister Thongam Biswajit Singh informed the Assembly on Thursday that a draft Manipur Textiles Policy 2018 will be placed before the state cabinet for approval after the conclusion of the budget session.

Replying to a question raised by Congress member Surjakumar Okram, the minister underlined the need to have an effective policy in place to promote the handloom industry in the state. "Drafting of the policy is almost complete. Immediately after the budget session, the draft policy will be placed before the cabinet for approval. The government is working seriously on this matter," Biswajit said.

The minister said the state government distributed 244 handlooms to beneficiaries during the 2017-18 financial year.

"The total number of handlooms and powerlooms in operation in the state are 3,09,372 and 293 respectively," Biswajit said.

Manipur's handloom sector is a cottage industry and its products form a major part of the trading activities at the three women markets in Imphal city, the only all-women market in the world.

Surjakumar said the handloom sector is the largest creator of jobs in Manipur and lakhs of families depend on it for livelihood. He urged the government to act seriously and take measures to promote it so that the weavers are benefited.

"As the raw material is brought from outside the state, middlemen benefit more from the industry than the weavers," Surjakumar said.

The minister said the government has allocated Rs 2 crore in the budget for cotton plantation as part of its plan to give a boost to the handloom industry.

"Cotton plantation has been started by farmers at Kwatha, a border village in Tengnoupal district, and Vangai range in Tipaimukh district. Once the cotton is cultivated, the state government will revive the defunct spinning mill," the minister said.

Stating that there has been a proposal to procure machines for the spinning mill, Biswajit said raw materials would be provided to weavers at subsidised rates.

Biswajit said the government had decided to formulate the Manipur Textiles Policy 2018 as the existing Manipur Use and Procurement of Local Handloom and Handicrafts Products Policy, 2016, is not adequate to promote the handloom sector.

"The new policy will be finalised by March," the industry minister said.