The Southern India Mills' Association (SIMA) recently held a meeting to update the textile mill owners of Tamil Nadu (TN) regarding the prospects of expanding in western Indian states of Gujarat and Maharashtra.
SIMA Chairman S Dinakaran said there has been a sharp rise in cost of transporting cotton from the fields to mills. In addition, the power and labour crisis continues to hinder the Tamil Nadu textile industry. Hence, the state does not seem to be a viable option for setting up new textile projects in the long run.
The textile mills in the state are considering different options for expansion, and the Association is helping those mill owners by carrying out talks with other states, he added.
At the SIMA meeting, it was said that Gujarat and Maharashtra have introduced textile policies to attract more investments to their states.
Highlighting the textile industry centric facilities in Gujarat, Mr. Dinakaran said housing a lot many textile units, the state also has textile parks and special economic zones. However, in spite of being the country's biggest cotton producer, the state lacks adequate spinning facility, he added.
The meeting also discussed the new Textile Policy introduced by Maharashtra government around six months back. The state has introduced an interest subsidy scheme which is linked with the Union Government's Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS).
The attendees were also informed that though there are several ginning and pressing and weaving units in Maharashtra, hardly 20 percent of the cotton produced in the state is spun by the state's mills, and the rest is transported to other states for further processing.
SIMA had earlier organized similar meeting highlighting expansion prospects and facilities in Karnataka and now plans to organize similar meetings for Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in near future.
