Union Textiles Secretary Rachna Shah speaks during an interview with The Hindu at Udyog Bhawan in New Delhi on April 12, 2023.
| Photo Credit: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR
Almost a month after the Centre announced its decision to set up seven mega textile parks under the PM Mega Integrated Textile Regions and Apparel (PM MITRA) scheme, Union Textiles Secretary Rachna Shah said the institutional mechanism to begin the works in two mega parks in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka will be ready in three months. Ms. Shah said the Centre has asked the States to expedite the process to form a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) and to select a master developer to implement the scheme.
Talking to The Hindu, Ms. Shah said the SPV, which will be formed between the States and the Centre for each of the parks, will become the agency that will oversee the implementation of the park. “We have signed MoUs (Memorandum of Understanding) with Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Other MoUs will be signed in the due course. The SPV, in turn, would be selecting a master developer. These are mega parks of at least 1,000 acres. Fifty per cent of the parks will be used for developing core infrastructure. There will be common facilities and special facilities such as testing, skills training and logistical arrangements. Commercial areas will be allowed in 10%. The master developer will conceptualise and prepare the plan for development of the park comprising these elements,” Ms. Shah said.
The Textiles Secretary said the parks have already elicited interest from investors. “It is in early stages. We will reach out to big and small investors in India and abroad. In Tamil Nadu, we have investors who have indicated interest for investment worth ₹1,100 crore. We are expecting that each park will be able to get investment of about ₹10,000 crore. In Karnataka, investment interest worth about ₹1,900 crore has been expressed. The State has entered into an MoU with some of the investors. We expect that each park will generate one lakh jobs,” she added.
The incentive for the manufacturing will be to bring in their entire value chain to the park, Ms. Shah said. “There is no specific incentive to shift to this park. But it will help them to consolidate their investment. All clearances will be taken care of by these parks,” she said.
Ms. Shah, however, did not commit to a timeline to begin production or business activities at these parks. “It is difficult to put a timeline. The SPV formation will not take longer than one to one-and-a-half months. We have asked the State governments to expedite the process of finding the master developer. We are hopeful that two to three months down the line, we will have the basic institutional mechanism in place, which can get into the detailed planning of each park,” she said.
The release of money from the Centre to these parks, however, will be linked to certain milestones and deliverables. Assistance from the Centre is promised to the tune of 30% of the project cost, with a ceiling of ₹500 crore. “This money will be released in different stages depending on the progress. Our implementation period is till 2026-27. The SPV formation will happen immediately. Based on getting the master developer on board, and the works get started, the disbursement for the infrastructure will start,” she said.
On the nature of the master developer, she said it can be an anchor investor who is a textile player, or a developer of parks or infrastructure. “Also, for each of the projects, there could be separate developers. The SPV will have to take the call. The preferred option is one master developer,” Ms. Shah said.