The Centre has decided not to “pre-judge’’ the suitability of any location for its Mega Integrated Textile Regions and Parks (MITRA) scheme under which seven parks fitted with world class infrastructure and plug and play facilities would be set up. Instead, the government will strictly follow the challenge method of comparing attributes such as land, labour and infrastructure availability before making a selection.

“The modified draft Cabinet note for setting up the seven MITRA parks has been sent to Cabinet for seeking its approval and we expect it to be cleared in the next few weeks. It has been ensured that no places are mentioned even by way of illustration. We do not want to pre-judge suitability of any location,” Textile Secretary UP Singh told BusinessLine.

The only prerequisite is that the land availability for the parks has to be a minimum 1,000 acres.

Challenge method

Many States such as Gujarat, Maharashtra, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have expressed interest in setting up MITRA parks. “We are happy that States are so interested in the MITRA scheme. But suitability of a location cannot be pre-judged even for States like Tamil Nadu that have experience in setting up textile parks. Selection will be strictly on the basis of the challenge method,” another official explained.

Under the challenge method, all proposals put forward by States are pitted against each other and judged on the basis of listed criteria. The States that obtain the maximum points for their proposals would get selected.

For the MITRA scheme, the factors on the basis of which projects would be judged include terrain and road and rail connectivity, Singh said. “Availability of raw material, power, and adequate water and other factors like labour laws and industrial policies of States are also among factors to be considered,” the Secretary added.

Also read: Production Linked Incentive scheme to be a game changer for India’s textiles sector, says AEPC

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed the MITRA scheme drafted by the Textile Ministry in Budget 2021-22 to enable the textile industry to become globally competitive, attract large investments, boost employment generation and exports. Sitharaman said that this will create world class infrastructure with plug and play facilities to give rise to global champions in exports.

Together with the production linked incentive (PLI) scheme announced for 13 sectors, including MMF (man-made fabric) apparels and fabrics and technical textiles, MITRA is expected to give a big boost to the textile industry. Incentives worth ₹10,683 crore are to be provided under the PLI scheme for textiles.

The MITRA scheme, once cleared by the Cabinet, will specify all details such as the infrastructure support to be given, the financial benefits and the procedures for implementation. States will then apply for the scheme based on expression of interest floated by the Textile Ministry which will subsequently select seven proposals based on the challenge method.

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