Sima seeks support from TN govt

The Southern India Mills’ Association (Sima) has urged Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa to allocate a few thousands acres of land along the coastal line and declare them as dedicated zone for textile processing.

This would also become a permanent solution for the perennial pollution problem in the state. The sector provides direct and indirect employment to over 5 million people and fetches Rs 70,000 cores as foreign exchange earnings, Sima chairman S Dinakaran said in a statement.

Of the 40 textile parks coming up in the country, eight are in TN and one of it, promoted by Sima, is a dedicated textile processing park with marine discharge facility at Cuddalore.

He requested the chief minister to nominate the director of Handlooms as the single window facilitator for getting all clearance from various state and central government authorities.

It took more than six years for Sima to get all the clearances and kick start the park. The park would commence commercial production in 18 months and provide direct and indirect employment to 30,000 people in the state, he added.

The association also applauded the state government’s decision to issue Rs 9 crore grant towards the Scheme for Integrated Textile Parks (SITP), which offers incentives for infrastructure development in the sector.