Cabinet approves textile park scheme at ~4,445-cr outlay
This will create 2.1 mn direct and indirect jobs, says Goyal
The Union Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved setting up of seven mega integrated textile regions and apparel parks, or PM MITRA, with an aim to create jobs, attract investment and make domestic industry competitive. The estimated expenditure will be ~4,445 crore over five years.
The parks will be set up at greenfield or brownfield sites located in different states. State governments that have ready availability of contiguous and encumbrance-free land parcels of more than 1,000 acres, along with other textiles-related facilities and ecosystems, will be eligible to apply.
“This will create direct employment for 700,000 people and indirect employment for 1,400,000 people. For this, 10 states — including Tamil Nadu, Punjab Odisha, Assam, and Gujarat — have shown interest. Parks will be set up in the states where there are more facilities, cheap electricity, cheap land, etc,” Textile Minister Piyush Goyal said in a media briefing after the Cabinet meeting.
The government has over the last few months announced a slew of short- and long-term measures such as clearing rebates of state and central taxes and levies dues, rolling out production-linked incentive schemes to boost the growth of the textile sector, considered the largest employment provider after agriculture. Besides, India is holding negotiations with the UAE and Australia to provide market access in the textile sector and reduce import duties.
Currently, the entire value chain of textiles is scattered.
For instance, cotton is grown in Gujarat and Maharashtra, spinning is done in Tamil Nadu, processing in Rajasthan and Gujarat and garmenting in the NCR, Bengaluru, Kolkata. Exports take place mostly from Mumbai and Kandla.
“MITRA offers an opportunity to create an integrated textiles value chain. This will reduce logistics cost,” Goyal explained.
For a greenfield park, there will be government-backed
development capital support at 30 per cent of the project cost, with a cap of ~500 crore. For brownfield sites, after assessment, development capital support at 30 per cent of project cost of balance infrastructure and other support facilities will have to be developed and restricted to a limit of ~200 crore. The Centre will also provide a fund of ~300 crore for each park to incentivise manufacturing units to get established.