Production Linked Incentive Scheme 2.0 will empower textile sector to compete with China and Vietnam, Indian textile minister Piyush Goyal has said. He added that the government will undertake expensive and exhaustive consultations with the stakeholders before finalising PLI 2.0. The minister reviewed PLI-1 with officials of selected companies. 

Goyal said that the centre is looking into PLI 2.0 and has instructed officials of the ministry to consult with industry before finalising the contours of PLI 2.0. He asked them to make PLI 2.0 robust and emphasised that it will empower the sector to compete globally with top exporting countries like China and Vietnam. 

The minister added that the textile industry should strive to move up the value chain and focus on products of high value. He reviewed PLI-1 with the beneficiaries at a meeting on Tuesday in New Delhi and asked them to focus on improving the quality of textile products made in India. The USP of Indian textile industry must not be restricted to cheap labour, the minister opined. He asked that textile sector workers be paid fairly, given social security, and brought to the formal sector. 

The review meeting under the chairmanship of Goyal was attended by representatives of 49 companies and officials of ministry of textiles. Under the PLI Textile-1, 67 applicants had applied out of which 64 were selected and out of these 55 companies have formed participant companies. The proposed investment during the entire tenure of the scheme is Rs19,789 crore out of which Rs1,536 crore has been invested so far. 

The review meeting was held to understand the implementation status of the projects under the scheme and for resolving their issues. At the meeting, several procedural issues were clarified for the sake of easy understanding. National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation Limited informed about the ready availability of land with plug and play facility at Dholera, Aurangabad, Greater Noida, and Indore.