Textiles sector to grow in coming year: Rita Sahu

BHUBANESWAR: Ahead of the Make in Odisha conclave, the Handlooms, Textiles & Handicrafts department organised a road show in Kolkata on Wednesday.Speaking at the event, Minister of State (Independent Charge) Handlooms, Textiles & Handicrafts Rita Sahu said while the metal sector has been an inherent strength of Odisha owing to its natural resources advantage, the Government of Odisha has taken proactive measures to broaden the base of the industrial ecosystem in the State. Some of the measures include the identification of priority and focus sectors, development of sectoral policies, development of sectoral industrial parks and infrastructure.

The Minister said textiles is one such focus area where Odisha hopes to achieve exponential growth in the coming years. She added that the State government is developing a Petroleum, Chemical, and Petrochemical Investment Region (PCPIR) in Paradip with IOCL as the anchor tenant. She further said that the government is developing a technical textile park in association with Indian Oil with a state-of-the- art facility and best-in-class facilitation at Bhadrak, which is close to Kolkata and West Bengal in general. She urged investors in the apparel and textile sector to come to Odisha and check the ecosystem and the investor friendly policy support for potential investors.

Commissioner-cum-Secretary of the department Shubha Sarma extended an invite to everyone present at the event to visit Odisha and attend the Make in Odisha Conclave’22 to witness first-hand what Odisha has to offer. “Our government understands that to attract investors we need to build a conducive business ecosystem. While progressive policies are certainly a part of it, we also need to build infrastructure and improve the ease of doing business. And we have done that,” said Sarma.The roadshow was attended by more than 150 delegates and representatives of 15 textile and apparel industries.