Almost all textile-rich States in India have textile parks except Odisha. Considering the potential that the industry has in the State, the Ministry is keen on setting up a textile park here that would help the arts and its artisans, the Union Textile Minister, Santosh Kumar Gangwar said after inaugurating ‘Design Sutra’, a national workshop on promotion of handloom and fashion at National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) in the Capital City.

The Ministry has asked the Odisha Government to submit its proposal for setting up the park as the Centre is looking to establish more textile parks across the country,

Assuring that the Central Government is committed to promote the rich handloom and handicrafts culture of Odisha, he urged Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to submit a proposal on the park within February 5.

Speaking on the occasion, the Minister further informed that the Ministry has agreed to grant Rs 10 crore for developing Raghurajpur as a model crafts village.

The Centre has sanctioned Rs 12 crore for setting up an incubation centre at NIFT-Bhubaneswar that will be the first among 15 other NIFT campuses across the country to get an incubation centre.

The Chief Minister said that the proposal on the textile park will be submitted to the Ministry next month.

Currently, there are 61 textile parks in the country and the Union Ministry plans to set up 13 more in the 12th Five Year Plan.

The Ministry will consider investment proposal of Rs 100 crore for the park and subsidy amount of Rs 40 crore each will be provided by the Ministry. If an industrial park worth Rs 100 crore is established, it will provide jobs to 2,500 to 3,000 people as the textile industry generates maximum employment after agriculture.