Centre to create 75 textile hubs to replicate Tirupur success: Goyal

TIRUPUR: The Union Government wants to create 75 Textile hubs like Tirupur which will not only support textile product exports and ensure inclusion of sustainable technology, but will also generate huge opportunities for employment, Union Minister of Textiles, Commerce & Industry and Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Piyush Goyal said on Sunday.

Tirupur has made the country proud and is home to textile production of worth Rs 30,000 crore every year, he said, after visiting an apparel park here and a meeting with the exporters.

He said the sector provides direct employment to six lakh people and indirect employment to four lakh people, therefore, collectively providing employment to 10 lakh people.

He said in 1985, Tirupur was exporting Rs 15 crore worth of textile products. In the year ended March 2022, the estimated exports from Tirupur stood at Rs 30,000 crore, 2,000 time growth.

Considering the unprecedented growth of the textile sector in the region, in over 37 years, the compounded annual growth rate at Tirupur came to a phenomenal 22.87%, he added.

Stating that this garment and hosiery hub of Tirupur has immense job avenues, Goyal called upon youngsters to grab the opportunity.

Assuring that the youngsters will be given necessary training, the Minister said presently, nearly 70% of those employed in the textile sector in Tirupur are women and those from the marginalised sections.

Goyal said that all over India, roughly 3.5-4 crore people are engaged in the total value chain of Textile sector alone, which is the second largest provider of work after agriculture.

The industry size is about Rs 10 lakh crore and the export is about Rs 3.5 lakh crore, he added. Asserting that the Textile sector has the potential to grow to Rs 20 lakh crore industry in the next five years with exports of Rs 10 lakh crore, Goyal said even then, a modest export target of Rs 7.5-8 lakh crore and production target of about Rs 20 lakh crore which is achievable in next five years has been set.

Talking about the challenges faced by India in terms of COVID as well as war between other countries, he stressed that despite the challenges, under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

“If India grows at 8% every year on a Compounded Annual Growth basis, the economy will double in about 9 years’ time to be a $6.5 trillion economy. Similarly, in 18 years from now, the economy of India predicted is $13 trillion economy. In 27 years from now, the economy growth can be calculated as $26 trillion. Hence after 30 years, it can be confidently put that India will be a $30 trillion economy”, Goyal said.

He said that Tirupur is the leading source of Hosiery, Knitted Garments, Casual Wear, Sportswear and is a traditional centre for cotton ginning.

He said during his visit to SITRA yesterday, he saw many innovative projects. He said the Centre will work with Health Ministry on the Sanitary Napkin Machinery in SITRA to provide low cost sanitary napkins under the PM Jan Aushadhi Yojana.