CM unveils new textile policy to enhance investments

 Even as the textile industry continues to be the second largest employment generating sector in India, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is leaving no stone unturned to assure investors full support from every entity of the Karnataka government in facilitating further investments and employment creation in the state.

Inaugurating the State Level Textile Investors Meet organised by government of Karnataka through the Department of Handlooms and Textiles in partnership with FICCI (Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry) on Saturday, he said, “In our efforts to further fortify investor confidence, we have announced a improved and benchmarked Textile Policy (Nuthan Javali Neethi 2013-2018). The previous policy, Siddaramaiah said, attracted investment proposals worth over Rs 5,000 crore, of which Rs 3,500 crore has already been committed, leading to 2.5 lakh jobs being created.

Investments have largely come in the form of mega project investments with project sizes averaging over Rs 100 crore. MSME-based industrial clusters and cluster-based textile parks are also planned with the incoming investments.

“The state has provided for setting up smaller textile parks in various potential districts such as Belgaum, Chikkaballapur, Mysore, Chamrajnagar, Bagalkot and Bijapur. A mega textile park is also  being planned on 1,000 acres in Yadgir,” Siddaramaiah added.The state government aims to mop up over Rs 10,000 crore in investments during the policy period, with expected employment of over 5 lakh to be created in this sector.

Additional Chief Secretary, Commerce and Industries Department Ratna Prabha said that there will be hassle-free single-window clearance land allotments for all projects and urged the existing units to move beyond Bangalore to locations like Yadgir where 3,300 acres of land is available to set up new units. “Moving beyond Bangalore, a textile park coming up in Yadgir district helps rural women to get employment within their vicinity. The textile sector is becoming fashionable and is attracting many young women.”

FICCI co-chairman Anand Sudarshan said India has overtaken Germany and Italy to emerge as the world's second largest textile exporter. The foreign brands have established businesses in India with Indian collaboration with many of them having substantial investments in Bangalore.

The textiles sector has witnessed a spurt in investment during the last five years. The industry attracted foreign direct investment (FDI) worth Rs 6,985 crore ($1.15 billion) during April 2000 to June 2014.

The sector contributes about 14 per cent to industrial production, four per cent to the gross domestic product (GDP) and 17 per cent to the country's export earnings.