National Textile Corporation (NTC) which has seven mills in the State, is considering consolidation and modernization. The NTC also plans to expand its Entyce showroom network through franchisees. It had invested in modernisation between 2008 and 2010 and taken up capacity addition in two mills two years ago. This has helped the mills improve productivity, reduce costs and improve quality, said A. Arulsamy, Executive Director (south).

According to officials, the State government had sanctioned Rs. 175 crore for modernisation of six cooperative spinning mills and it was completed in July. From blow room to spindles, there was complete modernisation of these six mills and trial run is on now. Similarly, a new loom shed, with 10 shuttleless looms, has been commissioned at Kurichi here by the Tamil Nadu Textile Corporation (TNTC) at an investment of Rs. 5 crore.

The yarn and fabric from the cooperative spinning mills and the TNTC is used for the free dhoti and saree scheme, production of school uniform and to meet the requirements of various government departments.

The officials said that with the modernisation and the new loom shed, productivity and quality will improve and more number of people will be employed.

However, there is a need for another round of consolidation and modernisation. There are some mills with old spindles and in some others the preparatory machinery needs to be upgraded.

The textile sector is going through a challenging phase with a fall in demand but efforts are on track for modernisation and value-addition, not just in the private sector but also in the cooperative spinning mills.