The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the PM MITRA (Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel) parks scheme to set up seven integrated textile parks in the country with an investment of Rs 4,445 crore.

The funds will be spent over a period of five years to develop MITRA parks by a special purpose vehicle, owned by the state government in partnership with the Centre, in public-private partnership mode. The parks will be set up at greenfield and brownfield sites in willing states. The scheme was first announced as part of the Union budget proposals for 2021-22.

The PM MITRA scheme is expected to create direct employment for 7 lakh people and indirect employment for 14 lakh people, Textiles Minister Piyush Goyal told journalists after the Cabinet meeting.

"Proposals of state governments having ready availability of contiguous and encumbrance-free land parcel of 1,000+ acres along with other textiles related facilities and ecosystem are welcome," the government said in a press statement.

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The Centre is in talks with the states for the scheme and 10 states have already shown interest, Goyal said. 

Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Assam, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana are among the states which have evinced interest in the scheme.

The Centre will provide support of up to Rs 500 crore each to greenfield parks and up to Rs 200 crore each for brownfield parks under the scheme for development of common infrastructure. Besides, Rs 300 crore will also be provided as Competitiveness Incentive Support (CIS) to each PM MITRA park for early establishment of textile manufacturing units.

The textile parks will have an incubation centre and plug & play facility, developed factory sites, roads, power, water and wastewater system, common processing house and other related facilities, like design centre, testing centres. They will also have support infrastructure like workers' hostels & housing, logistics park, warehousing, medical facilities and training and skill development facilities.

The parks will have 50 per cent area for pure manufacturing activity, 20 per cent for utilities, and 10 per cent for commercial development.

The parks will offer an opportunity to create an integrated textile value chain, right from spinning, weaving, processing, dyeing and printing to garment manufacturing, at one location. World-class industrial infrastructure would attract cutting-edge technology and boost FDI and local investment in the sector, the official statement said. 

Besides, integrated textile value chain at one location will reduce logistics costs for the industry. The parks will also be eligible for other Central and state government schemes. 

"This will enhance the competitiveness of the textiles industry by helping it in achieving economies of scale and will create huge job opportunities for millions of people. Leveraging economies of scale, the scheme will help Indian companies to emerge as global champions," the government said.