I don’t know where I will be after July 2, leave alone 2019: Smriti Irani

For Smriti Irani, every challenge is an opportunity. Having picked up the threads of “administrative skills” from the HRD Ministry, she is now weaving a new story for Indian textiles. Past 7 pm, amidst back-to-back meetings ahead of the Textile India event in Gandhinagar, Irani says the idea is to make India a hub for the entire world, be it textiles, jute, cotton, man-made fibre or apparel. In an interview, she speaks of her roadmap for textiles, but is evasive when it comes to her plans as a politician and for Amethi ahead of 2019, saying she is not even sure where she will be after July 2, the day the fair ends. Excerpts:

Your ministry is holding a Textiles India exhibition in Gujarat.  What are the major takeaways from it?

India has never hosted the entire textile value chain as a mega trade fair or conferences all under one roof. When we began, there was a perception that we will get representations and buying houses from just around 25 countries. That has swelled to 100 countries. Our target was around 1,000 foreign delegates. We have crossed 1,800, inching towards 2,000. We now have 15,000 representatives from across the country, 26 round tables and 17 ministries participating. So something which began small has grown so large.

How will it help weavers who have not been getting their due because of middlemen?

One of the PM’s initiatives is the Indian handloom brand, wherein we wanted weavers to have a specific idea of their own works. A lot of weavers were claiming that their design patterns were taken up by either an individual company or individual who acted as middlemen... We helped in getting the weaving and designing community under one platform... Our fashion show will have at one end a Sabyasachi and at another a simple Gujarati weaver from a Kutch village, together on the same platform.  

What is the biggest challenge you face?

I never look at any issue as a challenge. I always look at it as an opportunity. The minute you look at a thing as a challenge, you just get weighed down by the enormity of it.

What was more challenging, HRD or textiles?

It is like comparing apples and oranges. I think the administrative skills I inherited from HRD are standing me in good stead in textiles. I am happy that textiles, which was not a buzz word in circles, has become a prominent word today.

How do you propose to overcome the challenge the handloom industry faces from technology and products like, say, Chinese silks?

Technology should be used as an opportunity, not as a challenge... What helps us is the PM’s clarion call for Make in India... I am of the opinion that India becoming a sourcing hub for the globe is what the Textiles India event is all about. So be it technical textiles, jute, cotton or man-made fibre, anything that the world needs, India becomes the global destination. We are talking of the entire value chain — grow, buy material, stitch and the world can wear it.

Coming to Amethi, are you going to devote more time to politics as you go into 2019?

I don’t know where I will be after July 2, let alone 2019. Kal kisne dekha... Three years ago somebody said she will not be seen. I said you possibly do not know me... I ensure that I have a connect with people. Did I win from there? No. Does anybody who does not win from a place go back? No. But I do and the fact that we won four Assembly seats out of five in the last UP Assembly elections speaks a lot about how much people want to support the BJP. So I think that the four Assembly seats we won shows the expectation and the groundswell in terms of support in Amethi for the BJP.  And they have only one BJP icon who they know will help them overcome the challenge, and that is Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Is there any politician, in India or abroad, whom you idolise?

Who do you see here (points at the back to Modi’s woven portrait on the wall)?

What is the next big step you are envisaging?

We are going to do a lot of work in knitwear. We are also looking at more opportunities for technical textiles and geo textiles. We are looking for more diversification of jute and more opportunities for increased yield of cotton per hectare, so my plate is quite full for the rest of the year.

Some textile traders are opposing 5-per cent GST on textiles...

I think they are not. I saw public declarations by apparel councils and clothing manufacturers openly welcoming the 5 per cent... We have said that the Finance Ministry will be happy to address any clarification. The GST rate is something the Centre and state decide together.