Cabinet may approve PLI scheme for MMF, technical textiles on Wednesday

The Union Cabinet is likely to approve on Wednesday a production linked incentive (PLI) scheme for man-made fibre segment and technical textiles with a financial outlay of Rs 10,683 crore over five years to boost domestic manufacturing and exports from the sector, an official said.

The proposal is expected to come up before the Union Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, the official added.

The Cabinet had earlier approved PLI schemes in 13 key sectors for enhancing India's manufacturing capabilities and exports.

After the approval, the textiles ministry would come with detailed guidelines of the scheme for these sectors.

The prime objective of the scheme is to make manufacturing in India globally-competitive by removing sectoral disabilities, creating economies of scale and ensuring efficiencies. It is designed to create a complete component ecosystem in India and make India an integral part of the global supply chains.

The scheme is expected to attract global investments, generate large scale employment opportunities and enhance exports substantially. It will also help Indian firms to grow into global champions.

India's export of man-made fibre (MMF) garments constitutes only 10 per cent of its total apparel exports, which was about USD 16 billion in 2019-20.

Former President of Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), S K Saraf, said that both MMF and the technical textiles sectors need support from the government because at present their exports' share in the world market is low.

"PLI will help in boosting manufacturing and exports. This push is required," Saraf said.

Sharing similar views, Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) Chairman A Sakthivel said that the council has requested the government for the PLI scheme for both these segments as it would help in increasing India's share in world trade.

"India is doing 80 per cent cotton and 20 per cent MMF, while the world is doing is other way round. We need to promote these sectors and PLI is a welcoming step in that direction," he said.