India goes big on textile industry, to have seven mega textile parks

New Delhi, April 8: Under the PM Mega Integrated Textile Regions and Apparel (PM MITRA) scheme, the Indian government plans to establish seven mega textile parks as part of its Make in India push.

The parks will be built in seven different states: Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh. In a tweet, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the parks would "provide state-of-the-art infrastructure for the textiles sector, attract crores of investment, and create lakhs of jobs."

The scheme was unveiled in October 2021, and the parks are scheduled to open in 2026-27.

The overall cost of the project is Rs 4,445 crore, with an initial allocation of Rs 200 crore in the 2023-24 Budget.

PM Modi tweeted, "PM MITRA mega textile parks will boost the textiles sector in line with 5F (Farm to Fibre to Factory to Fashion to Foreign) vision."

According to India's Textiles Minister Piyush Goyal, the Centre plans to invest nearly Rs 70,000 crores in these parks, creating jobs for up to 20 lakh people.

According to The Hindu, the parks will serve as opportunities to develop an integrated textiles value chain, from spinning, weaving, processing, dyeing, and printing to garment manufacturing, all in one location.

"The textile industry has been unorganised in the country. This increased wastage and logistical costs impacted the competitiveness of the country's textile sector. This cluster-based approach, a vision of the Prime Minister, will solve several problems of the sector," Goyal added.

He also said that environmental clearances would also be eased under the scheme.

Textiles Secretary Rachna Shah stated that the parks' locations were chosen in a transparent manner after the Ministry evaluated 18 proposals from 13 states.

A transparent challenge was used to assess the eligibility of the states and sites. It was based on objective criteria that took a range of aspects into account, including connectivity, the existing ecosystem, textiles, industrial policies, infrastructure, utility services, and so on.

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