Chennai: The nation’s first PM Mega Integrated Textile Regions and Apparel (PM MITRA) Park is set to be established in Virudhunagar District of Tamil Nadu, and employ an estimated 2 lakh people, the Memorandum of Understanding for which was signed between the Central and State governments here on Wednesday..
Marking the occasion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on his Twitter handle:”Today is a very special day for my sisters and brothers of Tamil Nadu!”.
“The aspirational district of Virudhunagar will be home to a PM MITRA mega textiles park. This will boost the local economy and will prove to be beneficial for the youngsters of the state #PragatiKaPMMitra,” he said.
Giving a big boost to the textile sector, the PM MITRA Parks, in all, would create huge employment opportunities and an estimated 20 lakh people would get ‘new work’ attracting about Rs 70,000 crore investment, Union Textiles Minister Piyush Goyal said here.
The mega project would ensure south Tamil Nadu’s economic growth, Chief Mininster M K Stalin said.
In his address, after the MoU was signed and exchanged between the State and Central governments, Goyal said the States chosen to house this mega project were picked based on a transparent process.
The MoU was exchanged between officials in the presence of Stalin, State Ministers Thangam Thennarasu, KKSSR Ramachandran, R Gandhi and Union Ministers L Murugan and Darshana Vikram Jardosh, apart from Goyal. .
Giving a background on the issues faced within the textile value chain, Goyal said various processes such as ginning, weaving, processing and shipping were being done at separate locations that were far away from each other, making the activity “inefficient and costly”.
The transportation of material also involved a high cost, he said.
Considering this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi came up with the “5F vision” of farm to fibre, fibre to factory, factory to fashion, and fashion to foreign, by which the entire textile value chain could have all the facilities in one place, the PM MITRA integrated textile park, he said.
The amenities at the PM MITRA park in the state include plug-and-play infrastructure, an effluent treatment plant and testing facilities.
Each of these parks are set to create huge opportunities for employment, “expand our export competitiveness” and earn precious foreign exchange, leading to an ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’, he added.
The Minister said that Modi had a special affection for and desire to engage with the people of Tamil Nadu and “he is all the time telling us about the rich Tamil culture” which is recognised the world over.
The State is the centre of India’s art, culture and music as well as the pride of the nation when it comes to literature, he said, and pointed to initiatives such as the Kashi Tamil Sangamam and the proposed Saurashtra Tamil Sangamam aiding in fulfilling the concept of “Ek Bharat Shresta Bharat.”.
In his address, Stalin highlighted the conducive environment for industries in the state and outlined his government’s commitment to attract more investments.
Speaking about the Virudhunagar PM MITRA project, he said infrastructure work at an estimated Rs 2,000 crore, which includes a Central subsidy of Rs 500 crore, will be taken up.
Upon completion, the textile park will provide employment opportunities to 2 lakh people and would ensure the economic development of southern Tamil Nadu, he said.
A total of 11 MoUs between State authorities and companies were also exchanged on investment commitments in the PM MITRA project in Tamil Nadu.
The mega textile park is set to be built on a 1,052 acre site in E Kumaralingapuram in Virudhunagar District, close to the Chennai-Madurai-Kanyakumari national highway (NH-44), and is well connected to Thoothukudi seaport and Madurai airport. The proposed project site is owned by the State Industries Promotion Corporation (SIPCOT).
Speaking about Tamil Nadu’s close association with the textiles sector, Modi added, “The PM MITRA mega textiles park will enable the state to have a greater share in the Man-Made Fibre and Technical Textiles market globally, thus boosting India’s efforts to be a global hub for textiles. #PragatiKaPMMitra.” .
Days ago, the Centre announced seven sites where PM MITRA Parks would be set up, in Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. The government has approved PM MITRA Parks in greenfield/brownfield sites with an outlay of Rs 4,445 crore for a period of seven years upto 2027-28.
The PM MITRA Parks would help create world-class industrial infrastructure that would attract large-scale investment, including foreign direct investment (FDI), and encourage innovation and job creation within the textile sector. They signal a major step forward in realising the government’s vision of making India a global hub for textile manufacturing and exports, the Union government had said..
“It is expected that these parks will enhance the competitiveness of the textiles industry by helping it achieve economies of scale as well as attract global players to manufacture in India.” The Union Ministry of Textiles issued a notification on October 21, 2021 for setting up the seven PM MITRA Parks, as announced in the Union Budget for 2021-22. PTI VGN SA ANE.
