Govt sets Rs 30,000 cr export target for Tirupur textiles

The government has set a target for augmenting exports of apparel knitwear from Tirupur, the textile manufacturing hub of Tamil Nadu, to Rs 30,000 crore in the next five years, Textiles Minister Dayanidhi Maran said today.

Currently, exports from Tirupur amount to Rs 13,000 crore.

He said the Centre is providing Rs 200 crore to ensure that zero liquid effluent is discharged from Tirupur units.

The state government has also provided Rs 120 crore for setting up common effluent and discharge treatment plants.

"These people (Tirupur units) were struggling to meet their investment (needs) because of the global recession. This issue was brought to me and within six months we are able to get (Rs 200 crore) from the government of India," Maran said.

Justifying the central grant to garment exporters in his home state, Maran said, "Tirupur alone contributes Rs 13,000 crore in the export basket of knitwear from the country. In fact, we would like exports of Tirupur to go to Rs 30,000 crore over the next five years."

With regard to the difficulty being faced by exporters to repay their bank loans, Maran said his ministry was in talks with the banks for restructuring the loans.