KTR urges Centre to extend financial assistance for development of textiles in the State

Hyderabad: Telangana has urged the Centre to extend financial assistance for development of handlooms and textiles in the State.

Industries Minister KT Rama Rao on Thursday wrote a letter to Union Minister for Textiles Smriti Irani, seeking allotment of funds in the Union Budget 2021-22 for the development of Kakatiya Mega Textile Park (KMTP) and sanction of Mega Powerloom Cluster at Sircilla apart from sanctioning certain proposals for development of handlooms and textiles in Telangana.

Rama Rao said the KMTP at Warangal would take off in the financial year 2021-22 and it is being developed at a total estimated project cost of Rs 1,552 crore of which the core infrastructure works would cost approximately Rs 1,094 crore.

“We have aligned our project activities such that major external and internal infrastructure works at KMTP can be taken up immediately upon receipt of proposed financial support under the Mega Textile Park scheme,” Rama Rao said.

“Under the proposed scheme, we understand that a total of Rs.500 crore capital support is available for a Mega Textile Park. We request that approximately Rs 300 crore of this amount be released at the earliest to kick start major external infrastructure works urgently needed at the park,” he said.

As per geo-tagging report, as many as 35,588 power looms exist in Telangana. Of them, majority of power looms – 25,495 alone exist in Sircilla



district. Taking into account the existing power looms into cognizance, the Sircilla district stands best suitable to establish Mega Powerloom Cluster under Comprehensive Powerloom Cluster Development Scheme (CPCDS).

The Telangana government with a unique intention to generate employment for unemployed is setting up a Weaving Park under Worker to Entrepreneur Scheme and an Apparel Park at Sircilla. Further, in order to make Textile Park in Sircilla more viable it is planned to restart the CFC at the existing Textile Park, Sircilla.

Rama Rao requested Smriti Irani to sanction Mega Powerloom Cluster at Sircilla in Telangana and sanction an amount of Rs.49.84 crore from out of the projected outlay of Rs 993.65 crore towards filling various gaps and to implement the components including infrastructure gaps, modernisation and expansion of production base, strengthening of value chain, market and skill development, capacity building and administration studies, and project monitoring costs of the Textile Park, Weaving & Apparel Park at Sircilla.

The government is very keen to set up Powerloom Development Corporation to look after various marketing strategies under the powerloom sector. It would be justifiable that the corporation will be the implementing agency and SPV on behalf of the State government. The Telangana government has been contributing a major share of Rs 756.97 crore in the project.