To boost the textile industry in the country, the Indian Government has decided to set up seven mega textile parks in several states under the PM MITRA scheme. With an outlay of Rs. 4,445 crores, these state-of-the-art textile parks will be built over five years and here, all the credit goes to PM Mega Integrated Textile Regions and Apparel (PM MITRA) scheme. Under the Ministry of Textiles, the scheme aims to make the Indian textile industry globally competitive and lucrative enough to attract investments from all over the world. Here, the focus is also on the generation of employment opportunities for the youth. Some also see this scheme as an effort on the part of the central government to revive the era when India was known globally for its massive textile industry. In this article, we will not only walk you through the benefits and significance of PM MITRA Park schemes but also its key features. So, make sure you give it a complete read.

PM MITRA Scheme: An Overview 

PM MITRA yojana intends to realise the vision of the Indian government to make India walk the path of self-sufficiency or we should say establish an “Atma -Nirbhar Bharat”. Its purpose is to run the country’s textile industry at par with global standards. Announced in 2021, the scheme envisages creating world-class infrastructure using the ‘plug and play’ concept to push the growth of textile exports in the country. 

Here, some may ask “Is the textile industry still that relevant for today’s India?” Well, you’d be shocked to know that more than 45 million people are working in it, alongside the fact that it contributes a whopping 7% of our entire GDP. And, these make it too significant to ignore its issues.  

The mega textile parks that the central government has recently announced to set up under this scheme will act as a one-stop platform for all the textile operations, including spinning, weaving, and printing to garment manufacturing. Hence, crucial for improving the operational efficiency of lakhs of SMEs and promoting their growth.

Challenges Before Today’s Indian Textile Industry

Followings are the most common issues that today’s textile enterprises in India's face:

• High Product Cost:- Apart from the majority of Indian labourers being poorly skilled, high taxes and the absence of proper infrastructure are also the reasons that our textile industry lacks behind. 
• Unable to Compete:- No one can deny that the cheaper imports from third-world countries, like Bangladesh and Vietnam have been successful in snatching the golden opportunity from our textile industry. The reason behind this is simple - Lack of organised textile sector.
• Non-compliance with environmental regulations is also a challenge present there. The textile industry’s high water usage and its role in spreading pollution can’t be underestimated at any cost.
• No effective supply chains are present to contribute to the expansion of the country’s textile industry.

Benefits of the PM MITRA Scheme

Now that you know what the PM MITRA scheme is all about, it’s time to understand the benefits it has:

• Value Integration System

The PM MITRA parks will provide an environment to build a value Integration system, where SMEs of the textile industry can work together to improve their collective performance in the creation and distribution of their end products. 

• Saves Transportation Cost

When all the textile operations happen at one location, it’s obvious that the costs associated with transportation, etc. will automatically be reduced. This will help Indian businesses provide their textile products at lesser prices in the market and have an edge over their foreign competitors.  

• Create Job Opportunities

The textile industry is a labour-intensive one and with the implementation of this scheme, it has been estimated that every mega park will create one lakh direct and two lakh indirect job opportunities for the Indian people.

• Attract Foreign Investment

 There is no doubt that the establishment of these mega parks with the best operational infrastructure will not only bring foreign investments in the country’s textile sector but also the technology that can help our enterprises improve their productivity and get more benefits.

• Promote Innovation

The scheme not only urges but also provides small and medium textile enterprises with assistance to bring innovation to their day-to-day business activities. It gives them the much-needed push to invest more in Research and Development so that they can work efficiently and perform well in the market.  

Key Features of PM MITRA Scheme

Under the scheme, several mega textile industrial parks will be created by the central and state governments, with contributions from the private key players as well based on a public-private partnership (PPP) model. 

Further the central and state governments will devise a pool of eligibility criteria to hire a master developer, who’ll be responsible for developing and maintaining these industrial parks. 

Highlights of the Scheme:-

• Half area of the established textile parks will be reserved for production-related activities, one-fifth for utilities, and one-tenth for commercial development. 
• There will also be an incubation centre to instil the true spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship among the Indian people.
• Textile parks will be established with the ‘plug and play’ concept, which means proper availability of facilities like roads, power, water, testing centres, etc. Apart from these, the government will also create accommodation facilities for workers, logistics parks, warehousing, and health care centres.

Conclusion

The real motivation behind PM MITRA Yojana comes from the Indian government's 5F vision: farm-to-fibre; fibre-to-factory; factory-to-fashion, and fashion-to-foreign. There are high hopes from this scheme and why wouldn’t be such a case? It not only has the potential to generate employment for youth and contribute to the GDP but also to be a path for India to become a global giant in the textile industry.