New Delhi, Sep 8 (FN Agency) Union Cabinet on Wednesday cleared Rs 10,683 crore Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for textile sector. The incentives would promote production of high value man-made fabric (MMF), garments and technical textiles in the country. It is expected to trigger fresh investment of over Rs 19,000 crore and additional production turnover of over Rs 3 lakh crore in five years. Announcing the decision, Union Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that while offering incentives priority would be given to companies investing in Aspirational Districts and smaller towns.
The new investment is expected to create additional employment of over 7.5 lakh people directly and several lakhs more for supporting activities. As per the scheme details, there would be two types of investment possible with different sets of incentive structure. Any entity willing to invest a minimum of Rs 300 crore in plant, machinery, equipment and civil works to produce products of notified lines (MMF Fabrics, Garment) and products of technical textiles, shall be eligible to apply for participation in the first part of the scheme. In the other category, entities willing to invest a minimum of Rs 100 crore shall be eligible to apply for participation. In addition, priority will be given for investment in Aspirational Districts, Tier 3, Tier 4 towns, and rural areas and due to this priority industry will be incentivised to move to backward area,”an official statement said. Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) Chairman A Sakthivel said that the PLI scheme will be a game changer for the Indian textile industry and transform the country’s growth story.
The scheme will positively impact states such as Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamilnadu, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Odisha. Goyal said that two-third of the global market today is of man-made textile. The PLI scheme has been approved to facilitate India’s contribution in this ecosystem, he added. The Minister informed that India is working on Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with Western countries like the UK, EU and the UAE. “We are planning to correct the tariff restrictions on Indian products. We are trying to cover this disability in the FTAs. FTAs can’t be done in (a) hurry. FTAs done in a hurried manner in the past have hurt the Indian interests,” he said. PLI scheme for textiles is part of the overall announcement of PLI schemes for 13 sectors made earlier during the Union Budget 2021-22, with an outlay of Rs 1.97 lakh crore. With the announcement of PLI schemes for 13 sectors, minimum production in India is expected to be around Rs 37.5 lakh crore over 5 years and minimum expected employment over 5 years is nearly 1 crore.