Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan Pitches For Greenfield PM-MITRA Park In Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Even as the Odisha government is gearing up to submit its proposal to the Centre for setting up a PM-MITRA park, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has requested Textiles Minister Piyush Goyal to consider a greenfield park in the state.

As per a notification of Textiles Ministry, the PM PM MITRA parks will be set up at Greenfield/Brownfield sites located in different states. For a Greenfield park, the Centre will provide 30% capital support of the project cost with a cap of ₹500 crore. For Brownfield sites, it would be 30% of balance infrastructure and other support facilities with a limit of Rs 200 crore.

Pradhan, in a letter to Goyal, said with its rich history and locally available competence in textile sector, Odisha is uniquely positioned to attract investments in the textiles and apparel sectors.

“The handloom products of Odisha have gained world-wide acclaim for their design and quality. It has various designs such as Sambalpuri, Bomkei and Berhampuri. Odisha is also famous for its Ikat type of weaving,” he added.

He further said apparel and textiles, including technical textiles is one of the 6 focus sectors of the state. Under the apparel policy of the state government, capital grant of 20% of project cost up to Rs 20 crore and interest-free loan up to 10% with maximum limit of Rs 10 crore is available to the industries presently, Pradhan said.

While Sahi Exports, Aditya Birla Fashion and several other companies have already set up their manufacturing bases in Odisha, two textile and apparel parks are already under construction, one near to the major port of Dhamra and another near Bhubaneswar at Malipada, the Minister sad.

Meanwhile, he state government orgnised a national seminar on ‘Making Odisha the Textiles Hub of the East’ organised by IPICOL in Bhubaneswar on Monday as an initiative to prepare its proposal for PM MITRA park.

Also Read: Odisha Invites Textile & Apparel Giants From Across India