Government aims to push ahead with 'MITRA' textile park initiative

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Mar 18, 2021

A parliamentary panel has advised the Ministry of Textiles to accelerate its work towards establishing seven Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel Parks after obtaining the go-ahead from the Cabinet.

“The committee desire that once the Cabinet nod is obtained, the ministry should take urgent measures to accelerate the initial formalities so that the intended seven MITRAs are established within a definite time frame,” said the panel, the Press Trust of India reported.
 
The seven MITRA parks are designed to attract investment of Rs 10,000 crore ($1.5 billion) and generate around 15 lakh jobs in the textile and apparel industry and areas surrounding the parks. The initiative is part of a wider plan to boost India’s manufacturing sector, decrease the country’s trade deficit, and develop world class infrastructure.

“The committee are concerned to note that during the year 2020-21 only Rs 24 crore could be disbursed as MUDRA (Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency) loan to 4,278 sanctioned loans,” said the panel. The coronavirus pandemic was partially responsible for this, it said. 
 
The panel also urged the Ministry to ensure that handloom weavers benefit from the scheme. There is a need to ensure the genuine identification of weavers and actual dissemination of resources to them, it said.