Within days of the announcement of 7 PM MITRA mega textile parks in India, Tamil Nadu became the first state to launch the park. On the eve of the launch, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed and exchanged between the state and central governments. Eleven companies have also signed MoUs to set up their units with a total investment of Rs. 1,231 cr in the mega textile park. The project is set to come up in Virudhunagar District of Tamil Nadu.
According to an official communication, the mega textile park is set to be built on a 1,052-acre site in E Kumaralingapuram in Virudhunagar District, which is close to the Chennai-Madurai-Kanyakumari national highway (NH-44). It is well connected to Thoothukudi seaport and Madurai airport. The proposed project site is owned by the State Industries Promotion Corporation (SIPCOT).
Giving a big boost to the textile sector, the PM MITRA parks collectively would create huge employment opportunities for an estimated 20 lakh people, attracting about Rs. 70,000 cr investment, Indian Textile Minister Piyush Goyal said at the launch ceremony in Chennai.
CM Stalin said infrastructure work at an estimated Rs. 2,000 cr, which includes a Central subsidy of Rs. 500 cr, will be taken up. Upon completion, the textile park will provide employment opportunities to 2 lakh people and would ensure the economic development of southern Tamil Nadu, he said.
Minister Goyal said that various processes such as ginning, weaving, processing, and shipping were being done at separate locations that were far away from each other, making the activity “inefficient and costly.” The transportation of material also involved a high cost. The Mega Park will encourage all the processes at one place which will reduce transportation costs drastically, he said. The amenities at the PM MITRA Park in the state include plug-and-play infrastructure, an effluent treatment plant, and testing facilities.
On the occasion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, “The PM MITRA mega Textiles Park will enable the state to have a greater share in the man-made fibre and technical textiles market globally thus boosting India’s efforts to be a global hub for textiles.”
The MoU was signed between officials in the presence of Stalin, State Ministers Thangam Thennarasu, KKSSR Ramachandran, R Gandhi, and Union Ministers L Murugan and Darshana Vikram Jardosh, apart from Goyal.