The Maharashtra Government’s textile policy, which offers among other things 10 per cent subsidy to units in cotton belt of Vidharbha, Marathwada and Khandesh, has attracted investment proposals to the tune of Rs 10,000 crore, Textile Minister Mohd Arif (Naseem) Khan has said.

“We are very much hopeful on the new textile policy.

The response from the industry is already overwhelming. The department has received investment proposals to the tune of Rs 10,000 crore with investors mostly from outside the state evincing interest because of the bounty of incentives that the Government was offering,” the state’s Textiles Minister told PTI.

The state unveiled its new textile policy almost a year ago. It offers 10 per cent subsidy to units coming up in the suicide-hit Vidharbha region, besides Marathwada and Khandesh.

The state produces around 90 lakh bales of cotton every year from Vidarbha, Marathwada and Khandesh areas. But hardly 20 lakh bales are consumed by industry within the state. The rest is lapped up by units outside the state or is exported.

In the 70s, the state government brought in the monopoly cotton scheme where cotton was procured by state-run agencies to protect farmers’ interests. But it could not complete the chain up to textile processing units mainly in the backward region of Vidarbha.

However, the textile policy, unveiled last year, with its sops and the new industrial policy that provides attractive incentives for medium and small as well as mega units is likely to bring growth in Vidarbha, he said.

The Minister said the textile policy is aimed at drawing investment to the tune of Rs 40,000 crore to Maharashtra and provide 11 lakh new jobs in textile processing sector.

“We are offering 10 per cent subsidy to units coming up in Vidarbha, Marathwada and Khandesh areas. The idea is to scale up consumption to at least up to 50 lakh bales in the state,” he said.

The Minister is also confident that the textile boom will put an end to farmer suicides in the region.

Khan said for Vidarbha region, he has received proposals for 14 spinning mills with likely investment of Rs 666 crore and three composite spinning and weaving units which could pump in investment of Rs 700 crore. Together these units could offer over 7,000 new jobs.

Asked when these units would actually materialise, Khan said the investors were scouting for land and other infrastructure and it may take at least a year to show results.

Meanwhile, Nagpur is hosting a two-day prestigious ’Advantage Vidarbha’ in late February, which is expected to create the necessary impetus for investors in the textile sector.

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