A textile city will be developed in Chennai on public private partnership, said Minister for Handlooms and Textiles R. Gandhi. The Minister told that the textile city will come up on 100 acres and a consultant has been appointed to carry out a feasibility study. The city will be only to market textile and apparel products. It will have space for product launches, design studio, etc. “It will be an one-stop destination (for all textile products),” he said.
Gandhi visited a weaving shed of Tamil Nadu Textile Corporation and chaired a meeting of the technical advisory committee for the sector here recently.
He told that the government will also develop an integrated textile park in Salem on 119 acres. The facility will accommodate handloom and units of the entire textile supply chain. Further, the State Government recently approved seven textile mini parks. Each park will come up on two acres and have minimum three units. The government gives Rs. 2.5 cr subsidy for each park. For the handloom sector, it plans 10 mini parks, including one in Sirumugai, Coimbatore District. The aim is to upgrade the handloom products into premium items, attract younger generation weavers to the profession, and link the weaving clusters to retailers.
The Minister said the State Government has launched a project in the Nilgiris District to promote Toda embroidery products. It has tied up with the National Institute of Design to train more people in the embroidery work and to expand the colour range, design, and products of the Toda tribal people. These products will be sold at the Co-optex outlets.
When asked about demand slowdown affecting the textile and clothing sector, he said there are reports that export orders are picking up.
Gandhi earlier told press persons that the weaving shed here has 12 air jet looms and two more will be added. There are plans to replace powerlooms with 10 air jet looms and operate them using solar energy. The weaving units cater to the school uniform orders and also make other commercial products.
The Tamil Nadu Textile Corporation units will soon start producing medical textiles.
