Tirupur exporters eye expansion in Odisha, seek to invest in textile park

Delegation from tiny city in Tamil Nadu visits 70 acre site of proposed textile park in Ramdaspur

A delegation from the knitwear hub of Tirupur has visited Odisha to assess investment opportunities in setting up garment manufacturing units in the state. The delegation also held discussion with Odisha government officials on the possibility of making investments in a new textile park near Bhubaneswar.

The delegation, led by Tirupur Exporters Association (TEA), visited Ramdaspur, where park is being set up and observed the facilities. It visited a 300-acre parcel of land that the state's industrial corporation has earmarked for industrial use, of which 70 acres has been allocated to the textile park.

The Central and state governments provide 60 per cent subsidy on building and common facilities under the Scheme for Integrated Textile Parks (SITP), 25 per cent subsidy for new machinery, Rs 1 crore interest free working capital loan. The state government has stipulated a minimum wage Rs 220 for an eight-hour shift and has schemes to provide employment to new workers as well.

Export units from the tiny town of Tirupur do business worth about Rs 35,000 crore every year.

T R Vijayakumar, General Secretary, Tirupur Exporters Association said that ten companies can join hands to start a textile park in Odisha state.

He further said the delegation had been to four places and analysed opportunities to set up skill training centres in government buildings and that trained workforce from Odisha can be brought to Tirupur to employ them in the units.

He said more than 50,000 workers from Odisha have been already employed in Tirupur.