Coimbatore: Handlooms and textiles minister O S Manian met readymade garment makers and exporters in Tirupur on Wednesday and invited them to invest in the new Veda Textile Park, promising immediate fulfilment of all basic requirements. The meeting was held at the Tirupur collectorate to discuss the status of the upcoming park and requirements. Pointing out that two locations were earlier shortlisted for the park in Nagapattinam, the minister said they had zeroed in on 46.5 hectares land at Ayakkaranpulam in Vedaranyam block for the project.
The textile park would have 36 units - 34 readymade garment units and two knitwear units. “The park will be set up at a cost of Rs98.86 crore, of which the Union government offer Rs 37.8 crore subsidy and the state Rs 23.62 crore subsidy,” the minister said. Manian said they had requested the Tamil Nadu Skill Development Corporation to train 4,000 employees at the park in stitching and other allied garment related activities.
Meanwhile, organizations like KPR Mills, NIFT-TEA College of Knitwear Fashion and Happy Sand Academy have come forward to train the employees.
Talking to a few reporters after the meeting, the minister cited lack of feasible space as one of the reasons for not setting up the textile park in Tirupur. “In fact, it is for this reason (lack of space) that the ESI Hospital is also getting delayed.”
The textile department had from the beginning encouraged the Tirupur Exporters and Manufacturers Association to identify land and set up a textile hub in Nagapattinam, where there aren’t any major industry or employment opportunities other than agriculture for its youth.