CHENNAI: After two decades, the Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday unveiled a new integrated textile policy to achieve higher and sustainable growth in the textile value chain, from fibre to fashion, with emphasis on balanced regional development.
The state accounts for 19% of the nation''s textile output with a robust network of all the sub-sectors of the textile industry. It is the largest economic activity after agriculture, giving direct employment to around 31 lakh people and more than Rs 50,000 crore exports. "The new policy is aimed at attracting youth and to provide a range of subsidies to support the sector to make it more vibrant," handlooms and textiles minister O S Manian said. Major thrust has been given to handloom, power loom, spinning, processing to produce cost effective and high-quality yarn, textiles and apparel to meet the requirements of domestic and export sectors.
While the installed capacity in fabric dyeing and wider width fabric printing like rotary printing system is inadequate to cater to local requirements, the grey fabrics produced in and around Erode cluster are sent to Jaipur, Ujjain, Meerut, Ahmedabad and Surat for printing. The policy said the state will offer 10% credit-linked capital investment subsidy for the processing sector, and assistance of 15% capital subsidy will be provided for setting up treatment plants with zero liquid discharge, subject to a maximum of Rs 5 crore. Processing clusters will be promoted in Ramanathapuram district with financial assistance under the Integrated Processing Development scheme.
The state will encourage setting up of silk parks in prominent silk clusters Kancheepuram, Salem, Arni and Thirubuvanam.
Cotton is another area of concern. "The state will actively encourage increasing cotton production and productivity within the state, as only 5% of the total requirement is available," Manian said. Given that the spinning sector has 60% of the mills in the country and many are not equipped with state-of-the-art technology, the state offers 2% interest subvention for investments on technological upgradation and modernization in existing spinning mills with a vintage period of minimum 15 years on installed machinery.
It is strongly felt that due to the vast textile base, the state has the potential to emerge as a significant player in the global technical textile market. "Nine per cent of project cost, subject to a maximum ceiling of Rs 9 crore will be provided as state grant for setting up technical textile parks," the policy said. Given that knitting, apparel and garment sector has made tremendous strides, the state offers additional 10% capital investment subsidy to garmenting units for benchmarked eligible machinery.
Source: The Times Of India, India Friday, 08 March 2019