AHMEDABAD: The wait for the Na tional Fibre Policy seems to be drawing to an end. After pondering over the nitty-gritties of the heavily cotton-dependent Indian textile value chain, the ministry of textiles has come out with the draft Na­tional Fibre Policy that has been sent to stakeholders for recommendations.

With concerns over India's cotton to manmade fibre (MMF) consumption ra tio being heavily lopsided (59:41) against 40:60 ratio worldwide, the policy making in consultation with Dun and Bradstreet expects to address all problems of the val ue chain and importantly, be fibre-neu tral. The policy pertaining to cotton, MMF, jute, silk, wool, other natural fibres (banana fibre, pineapple fibre, flax, sisal and hemp/nettle), speciality fibres (tech nical textiles) and speciality (suvin and or ganic) cotton would seek to enhance their production and availability to ensure sus tained growth for the textile value chain.—Shramana Ganguly Mehta