The union budget presented by the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the Parliament on Thursday wherein it was announced setting up of a mega-cluster in Surat for textiles has been welcomed by the Gujarat textile industry.

Of the six textile mega-clusters proposed to set up, one of it will be in Surat. Surat textile industry, which involves spinning, weaving, processing, garmenting and exports, employ around 1.5 lakh people directly. Market estimates put the industry turnover in the range of Rs. 40,000 crore –Rs 50,000 crore annually.

The chamber and industry leaders had represented several times to integrate the entire value chain of textile industry under one roof. But there was mismatch between the policies of state and Centre. Now the state is in sync with the Central policies, hence there are brighter prospects of growth, said Ajoy Bhattacharya, past president, South Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SGCCI).

As the industry was disintegrated it was important to bring them under one umbrella. The entire value chain is interlinked; hence if there is disturbance at one level of value chain, the entire textile industry has to suffer.

The textile clusters in Surat will create employment opportunity in the sector, which has been facing a slow growth for past couple of years.

Surat’s textile industry produces synthetic fabric including dress materials, saris and home textiles among others.