Union Minister for Textiles Giriraj Singh has predicted that India will soon surpass China in silk manufacturing.
Speaking to the audience at the Central Silk Board’s (CSB) Platinum Jubilee celebrations in Mysuru, Singh asserted that India now produces about 40,000 metric tonnes of silk annually, compared to China’s 50,000 metric tonnes.
According to him, India’s silk production has increased from 28,000 metric tonnes to about 40,000 metric tonnes, while China accounted for 50,000 metric tonnes of the 94,000 metric tonnes produced worldwide.
Singh asserted that there was a market for Indian silk products even in China and expressed optimism that the country could produce up to 100,000 metric tonnes of silk in the near future if the production of mulberry silk in South India and Eri silk in North India reached saturation.
In 2014, the average cost of a cocoon was Rs. 260. That was ten years ago. The average price dropped from Rs. 550 per kg in 2022–2023 to Rs. 440 per kg in 2023–2024. Singh pledged that his Department would investigate the causes of the previous year’s decline in cocoon prices and that it will endeavour to stabilise cocoon pricing.
Singh proposed that the State Government establish a Common Facility Centre in response to a complaint made by former Minister and Chikkaballapur MP K. Sudhakar on the alleged meddling of middlemen in the silk trade that was robbing the farmers of their just share.
He made the observation that Bengaluru-based businesses had entered the silk trade, compelling the farmers to deal with the middlemen. Since the Centre is not involved in extension work, the State ought to establish the Common Facility Centre to help farmers in Karnataka as well as the neighbouring states of Kerala and Andhra Pradesh.
Pabitra Margherita, the Union Minister of State for Textiles and External Affairs, stated he was unaware of intermediaries in the silk trade. But he promised to do his part to ensure that intermediaries in the silk trade are eliminated, should they exist.
Speaking to the assembly, Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel H.D. Kumaraswamy stated that Karnataka generated 42 per cent of the nation’s over 40,000 metric tonnes of silk.
