The government would soon shortlist seven mega textile parks under the Rs. 4,445 cr Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel (PM MITRA) that were proposed in the Union Budget 2021 to make the textile industry globally competitive, commerce minister Piyush Goyal said recently.
“We are at an advanced stage of evaluating these [PM MITRA] proposals and we hope to finalize the proposals after the Parliament session,” Goyal said while addressing reporters during the Kashi Tamil Sangamam meet in Varanasi.
This comes at a time when textile manufacturing and exports have witnessed a sharp decline during the quarter ended September. India’s exports of readymade garments fell to a 28-month low of $988.7 mn in October, while cotton yarn exports plunged by 46 percent to $719 mn in October.
In the textiles sector, margins of 4 or 5 per cent are important to become competitive and in the free trade agreement the government is pushing for duty free access for the industry, Goyal further said.
India is set to gain significantly for the textile sector from FTAs with western countries such as the UK, EU, Canada. The commerce and industry ministry further said that the UK has a 9 percent duty on different items and elimination of the duty would boost the textile sector.
India’s textile and apparel exporters complain that a largely fragmented supply chain and higher logistics costs push up the cost of production—one reason export orders have steadily moved to countries such as Bangladesh and Vietnam.
These mega parks, textile makers say, could help return textile orders because of a planned integrated textiles value chain—including spinning, weaving, and processing —at a single location.
Among the states that have shown interest are Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana.
The 7 PM Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel (PM MITRA) Parks will be set up at Greenfield / Brownfield sites located in different willing States, ministry of textile had said in a statement.
Proposals of State Governments having ready availability of contiguous and encumbrance-free land parcels of 1,000+ acres along with other textiles related facilities & ecosystem are welcome, the ministry added.
