Silk factory in Srinagar being upgraded with WB funding to boost production

In order to increase the production of silk garments across the Valley, the Jammu and Kashmir Government of India is focusing on upgrading the silk factory with new facilities and equipment funded by the World Bank.

With this, the government aims to generate more employment in the valley and is upgrading the new building with the machinery of the latest technology so that this factory is able to produce larger quantities of silk.

Zamir-ullah, the manager at the factory said that these facilities would benefit the local people and help in generating employment in the Kashmir Valley. He added that the new machines would also help them compete in the market.

"Most of the buildings and around 50 per cent of the machinery here got damaged in the 2014 floods. This forced our employees to sit at home. We thank the World Bank for its funding. This would boost our silk production. We will have effective and efficient results. They helped us at a time when we thought this business was dying," he said.

"The machines cost somewhere around Rs 5 crores to Rs 6 crores. With these new machines, we hope that we will have new designs and we can compete in the market. This industry supports the livelihoods of around 23,000 families. This will also create jobs and benefit locals," he added.

Many families in Srinagar depend on the silk factory for their livelihood. They work at home and make silk raw material and sell that to the factory.

Mehmooda Jaan, an employee at the factory said "We are very happy because of this project. We can no longer work on old machines. It will make our work easy and it will benefit us. We thank the government for this project. We didn't have this many facilities earlier."

"With the new building and the latest machinery, we hope that it will benefit us a lot. That would also increase production. Till now, we used to work by repairing these machines. Now, we hope new machines would bring success. We are eagerly waiting for the new building to get ready soon," said Bashir Ahmad, another employee working at the factory.

The project is worth around Rs 12.5 crores and is funded by the Work Bank through the Economic Reconstruction Agency (ERA). The process to upgrade the factory is underway and efforts are being made by the government to finish the project at the earliest. This project is expected to generate more employment.

Meanwhile, the government is also focusing on the production of mulberry crops and the production of cocoons to boost silk production in the state and generate more employment.