Union Budget 2021: Centre unveils scheme for setting up mega textile parks in India

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, center, with Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs Anurag Thakur, second left, leave finance ministry for the parliament house to present annual federal budget, in New Delhi. AP

New Delhi: The government on Monday unveiled a scheme for setting up mega textile parks in the country, as part of the Centre’s efforts to position India as a fully integrated, globally competitive manufacturing and exporting hub for the sector.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made the announcement while presenting the Budget 2021-22 in Parliament.

“A scheme of mega-investment textile parks will be launched in addition to the PLI scheme,” Sitharaman said.

She informed that 7 mega textile parks will be launched in three years as part of the scheme.

The mega textile parks will have integrated facilities and quick turnaround time for minimizing transportation losses, eyeing big-ticket investments in the sector.

The textile ministry had recently said a scheme and a Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel (MITRA) Park, in over 1,000 acres of land with state-of-the-art infrastructure, common utilities and Research and Development (R&D) lab, are under consideration.

So far, 59 textile parks have been sanctioned under the scheme for integrated textile parks, out of which 22 have been completed.

The production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme, announced earlier for 10 key sectors including textile and automobiles, would help India become self-reliant, boost manufacturing and enhance exports.

The government had approved the PLI scheme for 10 sectors, taking the total outlay for such incentives to nearly Rs 2 lakh crore over a five-year period.

The Indian textile sector is the sixth-largest exporter of textiles and apparels in the world.