BENGALURU, October 16 — The Ministry of Textiles, in statutory coordination with the Central Silk Board (CSB), on Friday sanctioned the comprehensive operational framework for 'Silk Samagra-2' with an allocated outlay of ₹1,200 crore, aimed at scaling high-grade 4A-grade bivoltine white silk production across major sericultural clusters.
The scheme extends direct capital subsidies ranging from 50 to 75 percent to over 2.5 lakh sericulture farmers across Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, and Jammu & Kashmir. Financial grants support the procurement of computerized Automatic Reeling Machines (ARMs), solar-powered disinfection systems, high-yielding disease-free silkworm laying (dfl) nurseries, and climate-controlled rearing houses.
Textiles officials highlighted that India is the world's sole producer of all five commercially harvested silk varieties—Mulberry, Tropical Tasar, Oak Tasar, Eri, and the GI-tagged golden Muga silk indigenous to Assam's Brahmaputra valley. Silk Samagra-2 aims to achieve total import substitution of overseas raw silk yarn by 2029.
The institutional mandate of the Central Silk Board (constituted under the Central Silk Board Act 1948, headquartered in Bengaluru), geographical indicators in sericulture (Assam Muga silk, Mysore silk, Salem silk), the distinction between multivoltine and bivoltine silkworm strains, and cottage agro-industry dynamics are core topics in UPSC Civil Services (GS-III: Agriculture & Rural Employment).