Seven Mega Textile Hubs to come up across the country – New textile policy to boost domestic industry

12 January 2021: Indian Government is coming up with a new textile policy that will boost the domestic industry, promote processing and branding of organic cotton and to set up hubs to manufacture machinery with the help of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

“As per the vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat, the idea is to increase the domestic production of several components in the sector to make India a global textile player,” said a textile ministry official. “We import nearly 75% of machinery for the textile sector. The aim is to manufacture the machinery locally.”

PTI on December 2 quoted textile secretary Ravi Capoor citing a Niti Aayog-led study that found Rs.13,000 crore worth machinery was being imported for the industry. The study highlighted that India has reached nowhere in terms of technology up-gradation except in the spinning segment.

Textile Ministry Officials said seven mega textile hubs are expected to be set up across the country. End-to-end production, from raw material to export of the finished product, would be available at these hubs. A mega textile park spread over 1,000 hectares of land will help the growth of integrated textiles.

Officials said a textile research institute will be set up in Coimbatore under the policy. “A draft of the policy is likely to be floated for public feedback soon,” said a second official.

Union textile ministry was considering over Rs.10,000 crore production linked incentive scheme for the industry. The ministry has identified 50 key sectors such as sanitary napkins and winterwear for the scheme with a five-year gestation period. It has removed the anti-dumping duty on purified terephthalic acid and acrylic fibre to boost the MMF sector.