Free Power Scheme for Weavers To Roll Out From April 1 in AP

Vijayawada: The coalition government has announced a major welfare initiative for the handloom and powerloom sector, with a free power scheme for weavers set to come into effect from April 1 across Andhra Pradesh.

Handlooms and textiles minister S. Savitha said the scheme would provide substantial financial relief to over one lakh weaver families. Under the scheme, traditional looms will be eligible for 200 free power units per month, while power looms will receive 500 free units.

A total of 1,03,534 families will benefit, including about 93,000 traditional loom households and 10,534 powerloom units. The scheme will impose an annual burden of over Rs 85 crore on the state exchequer. Traditional loom weavers are expected to save Rs 720 per month, amounting to Rs 8,640 annually, while powerloom operators will save Rs 1,800 per month or Rs 21,600 a year.

Addressing a press conference at the State Secretariat, Savitha said the government was fulfilling commitments made by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and IT and education minister Nara Lokesh, and reiterated that economic security for weavers remains a priority.

She said pensions for weavers aged above 50 have been increased from Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000, benefiting 87,280 persons. Pending dues of Rs 7 crore to handloom cooperative societies were cleared through APCO over the past two months.

The minister said Rs 1.67 crore has been sanctioned as the first instalment of thrift fund assistance this year, a 15 per cent yarn subsidy is being extended through the National Handloom Development Corporation, and processing charges payable to weavers have been enhanced.

To ensure year-round employment, agreements have been signed with Co-optex, Tata Taneira and Birla Aditya. Market access has been expanded through APCO outlets, ready-made garment stores and e-commerce platforms.

She said major projects include a Rs 172-crore Unity Mall in Visakhapatnam, textile parks at Emmiganur, Rayadurgam, Mylavaram and Pamidi, a mega textile park at Mangalagiri, and handloom clusters at Dharmavaram and Pithapuram. Ten mini-clusters are also being developed at a cost of Rs 10.44 crore.

Savitha added that Andhra Pradesh has won nine national ODOP awards, including four for handloom products, besides securing a gold medal for overall sectoral development.