NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday formally launched the ₹4,445 crore project to develop seven ‘PM MITRA’ mega textile parks — one each in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh – which, according to the textiles ministry, will attract ₹70,000 crore investments, create 2 million jobs and immensely boost exports.
The seven sites have been selected after the evaluation of 18 proposals submitted by 13 states, a textile ministry statement said. The government has focused on providing incentives to boost exports of labour-intensive items such as textiles, currently facing strong headwinds because of a contraction in global demand.
According to official data, India saw a sharp year-on-year 16.57% dip in exports of textile products at $30.26 billion in April-January 2022-23, while their imports jumped over a 33.5% jump ($8.95 billion).
“PM MITRA mega textile parks will boost the textiles sector in line with 5F (Farm to Fibre to Factory to Fashion to Foreign) vision,” PM Modi said in a tweet on Friday.
PM MITRA, an abbreviation of Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel, will provide state-of-the-art infrastructure for the textiles sector, attracts investment of crores and create lakhs of jobs. It will be a great example of ‘Make in India’ and ‘Make For the World’, he added in another tweet.
Textiles minister Piyush Goyal said the seven parks will give “a real boost to the Aatmanirbhar Bharat mission” and create an integrated textile value chain at one location.
“The step will not only draw investment but will also mitigate the industry’s logistics costs with world-class industrial infrastructure.” Global textile trade is highly cost-competitive as least-developed countries (LDCs) such as Bangladesh have duty-free access to such markets.
Commenting on the development, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the PM MITRA Park scheme is “a practical replica” of the Prime Minister’s “5F vision” and “a significant step towards building an Aatmanirbhar Bharat and to position India strongly on the global textiles map”.
PM MITRA Parks will help in creating world-class industrial infrastructure that would attract large-scale investment including foreign direct investment (FDI) and encourage innovation and job creation within the sector, an official statement said. The ministry of textiles will oversee the execution of these projects.
“An SPV owned by the Centre and State Government will be set up for each park which will oversee the implementation of the project. The Ministry of Textiles will provide financial support in the form of Development Capital Support up to ₹500 crore per park to the Park SPV,” it said.
A Competitive Incentive Support (CIS) of up to ₹300 crore per park to the units in PM MITRA Park shall also be provided to incentivise speedy implementation. Convergence with other government schemes shall also be facilitated in order to ensure additional incentives to the Master Developer and investor units, it said.
State governments will provide a contiguous and encumbrance-free land parcel of at least 1,000 acres of land and will also facilitate the provision of all utilities, reliable power supply and water availability and wastewater disposal system, an effective single window clearance as well as a conducive and stable industrial/textile policy, it added.
“The parks will offer an excellent infrastructure, plug and play facilities as well as training and research facilities for the industry,” it said.
PM MITRA Parks represent a unique model where the Centre and State Governments will work together to increase investment, promote innovation, create job opportunities and ultimately make India a global hub for textile manufacturing and exports, it said. “Nearly Rs. 70,000 crores investment and 20 lakhs employment generation is envisaged through these parks,” the ministry of textiles said.