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By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, October 26, 2021: Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has urged the Centre to establish a green field Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel (MITRA) Park in Odisha to tap State’s potential in the textiles sector.

In a letter to his Cabinet colleague Piyush Goyal, the Minister in-charge of Textile, Commerce and Industry, Pradhan sought setting up of a MITRA park in the State which has earned worldwide acclaim for their signature weaves like ikkat, Sambalpuri, Berhampuri and bomkei. This coupled with locally available competence in the sector gives Odisha the unique position to attract investments in the textiles and apparel sector, Pradhan said.

The Textile Ministry has recently announced setting up of seven MITRA parks in the country which will be developed as special purpose vehicles owned by the State Government and the Government of India in a public-private partnership mode with the aim to help companies from the country to emerge as global champions in textiles and the apparel sector, he said.

The State has also emerged as the knowledge and skill hub with the presence of globally recognised institutes of higher learning and research and skill development including CIPET, IIT, IIM, IIIT, NIT, AIIMS, NISER, Skill Development Institute, Indian Oil’s Institute of Chemical Technology, Odisha campus over the past few years, he said.

Pradhan said the State is one of the first to have a dedicated Skill Development Authority which developed customised training programme for workers based on industry requirement. Odisha is uniquely poised logistically and industrially too with a wide network of 10,000 km of highways, ports at Dhamra, Paradip and Gopalpur, its proximity to industrial hubs and Jagdishpur-Haldia and Bokaro-Dhamra pipeline gas pipeline which passes through the State.

Apparel and textiles, including technical textiles, is one of the six focus sectors of the State. It has an industrial policy and an apparel policy in place to ensure smooth clearance of projects and provide adequate incentive to the industries. Under the apparel policy, capital grant of 20 per cent of the project cost up to Rs 20 crore and interest free loan up to 15 per cent with maximum limit of Rs 10 crore is available to the industries presently.

A technical textile park is being developed in Bhadrak. This dedicated park is being anchored by a 300 KTPA IOCL polyster and fibre plant with committed feedback of 100 KTPA polyster staple fibre, 165 ktpa drawn texturised yarn and 35 KTPA of fully drawn yarn, Pradhan added.

Union Textiles Secretary U P Singh, while attending a textile investors meet here on Monday, had said that Odisha has one of the most conducive ecosystems for expansion of the sector. While the State has a reputation for handloom and handicraft, its presence in the textiles sector requires more boost. Odisha has a conducive eco system for the textiles sector as it has a stable political system, ample availability of skilled manpower and stable power supply, he said.

Singh said the Centre is targeting to increase textiles exports to $44 billion this fiscal and $100 billion in the next five years. It also aims to increase the size of the industry from $ 140 billion to $250 billion in the coming years. The growth will come not only from cotton but from manmade fibres and technical textiles too, he added.