Union minister of state for textiles Santosh Kumar Gangwar (BJP) and UP minister for textiles, Bhagwat Sharna Gangwar (SP) have come together to set up a mega textile cluster in Bareilly, the city with immense potential in the field of textile designing and manufacturing.

To implement this idea, both Gangwars want credit for their respective governments and urgently needs government intervention to tap the market.

With the two political leaders from different political parties holding the post of textile minister at the state and central level, Bareilly is set to join the elite club of cities like Ludhiana and Ahmedabad having mega textile parks.

Bareilly has around 400 small and readymade garment units but no official patronage to make their presence felt in the national and international market .

Bhagwat Sharna Gangwar said that the project expected to come up with an initial cost of around Rs 10 crore would provide a major fillip to more than 400 readymade garments manufacturing units and boutiques in the city. For years they have been stitching shervanis, coats, jeans, jackets for manufacturers from big cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Jaipur which were exported to foreign clients. Their efforts to carve their own identity in the highly competitive market hit a roadblock in the absence of funds to manufacture such items on a large scale given the high cost of machinery and other equipments.

The proposal was put before the state cabinet recently and it was approved after which it was sent to the central government which also put its stamp of approval two days back.

Meawhile, union textiles minister, Santosh Kumar Gangwar said that this is the precursor to the mega textile cluster scheduled to come up in the region and for this particular project, due credit should be given to union minister for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), Kalraj Mishra who played a pivotal role in clearing the project.

However, with the upcoming readymade textile cluster, this problem would be addressed to a large extent. The centre will contribute nearly 80% of the funds while the remaining 20 percent would be provided by the state government.