Union textiles minister takes a look at a stall displaying new silk reeling technologies at the 77th Foundation Day of Central Silk Board on Sunday
The Centre is targetting to scale up country’s silk production to 60,000 tonnes by 2030-31 and a resolve has been made to elevate India to the No 1 rank globally by in the silk production by 2028-29, said Giriraj Singh, Union Minister for Textiles. Production of silk in the country has increased to 42,000 tonnes at present, up from 26,000 tonnes in 2014, Singh said.
Participating at the 77th Foundation Day programme of the Central Silk Board in Bengaluru on Sunday, Singh said the Central Government is committed to the expansion of the country’s sericulture sector and the economic progress of silk farmers. With a target of increasing silk production to 60,000 tonnes by 2030-31, by enhancing the yield of mulberry leaves and increasing cocoon rearing cycles, there is an aspiration to raise the annual income of farmers to ₹10 lakh to ₹12 lakh, he said.
Emphasizing that new innovations from scientists, hybrid varieties, and modern machinery must reach farmers directly, Singh said that demand for Indian silk is rising in the international market at a time when China’s production is declining. Further, the minister said that strengthening the entire value chain from sericulture to reeling and weaving, taking the country’s textile market to $300 billion dollars and ensuring minimum economic security for weavers and the working class are the primary priorities of the Government, according to an official statement.
Padmini Singla, Joint Secretary (Silk), Ministry of Textiles and Vice Chairperson of CSB, highlighting the strategic progress of the sericulture sector, said that an ambitious target has been set to produce 60,000 metric tonnes of silk in the country by 2030-31. To achieve this, high-yielding silkworm hybrids and machinery are being introduced, alongside integrating AI, GIS and machine learning technologies to inspect quality and enhance production capacity, Singla said.
Shobha Karandlaje, Union Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Labour and Employment, remarked that Karnataka occupies the leading position in the country’s total silk production and Government is giving special attention to infrastructure development and industrial growth to further strengthen this sector.
Through the adoption of modern technologies and high-density production methods, importance is being given to producing silk of global export standards, which will enhance domestic production and significantly reduce reliance on imports. A large number of entrepreneurs are registering under the MSME framework and the Government is continuously implementing subsidy and quality improvement schemes to support them. The Minister stated that the prime objective of the Government is to provide suitable market access to local producers and generate new employment opportunities in the sericulture and textile industrial sectors, the statement said.
Published on September 21, 2026