R. Gandhi, the minister for handlooms and textiles, indicated that a public-private partnership
will be utilised to establish a textile metropolis in Chennai. Comprising design studios to venues for product launches, the textile city is supposed to be built on 100 acres of land, being a one stop destination for textile products, meant to market onlytextile and apparel products.
On Thursday, Mr. Gandhi convened a meeting of the technical advisory group for the industry and toured a weaving shed run by the Tamil Nadu Textile Corporation According to him, the government will also create an integrated textile park in Salem on 119 acres, as reported by The Hindu. The complex will house handlooms and components from every step of the textile production chain. Furthermore, seven textile miniparks were recently approved by the State government. Each park will have a minimum of three units and be built on two acres. For each park, the government provides a subsidy of 2.5 crore. Ten mini parks, including one in Sirumugai, district of Coimbatore, are planned for the handloom industry. The goal is to make handloom products more upscale, entice future generations to become weavers, and establish a connection between weaving clusters and shops.
The minister also mentioned about the National Institute of Design joining forces with the government to launch a project in the Nilgiris district, destined to uplift the status of Toda embroidery products. The collaboration is meant to materialise an expanded color range and innovative design ideas. The products will be sold at Co-optex outlets.
The Minister also revealed about the plans of replacing powerlooms with 10 airjet looms, operated with solar power. The weaving units which provision for school uniform orders and commercial orders, will be catered with two more airjet looms, adding to the 12 previously acquired. Soon, the divisions of the Tamil Nadu Textile Corporation will begin manufacturing medical textiles.
