Textile sector is Uttar Pradesh state’s second-largest employment provider after agriculture, to give a boost to its textile sector the UP government is working on policy which will be offering a number of incentive to investors in the textile sector, said Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

According to the draft policy, the government will facilitate private or government land to investors for setting up their units. It will also give assistance in setting up textile complexes, clusters for units of small and medium sizes, as well as textile parks.

It will also provide special incentives to investors in Bundelkhand, eastern UP and central UP as well as the west UP areas barring areas under the Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway Development authorities.

Textile Minister Satyadev Pachauri at a state government programme on skill development said that the policy is being finalised and state cabinet will approve it soon where the government is likely to announce its list of incentives in the form a policy for textile, handloom and silk in the coming weeks.

They need to sign Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with textile mills in the state so that they can train youths. The mills that are not running need to be re-started. This can be done by the government or through PPP(Public Private Partnership) model.

He also said that his government has set a target of providing jobs to 70 lakh youths in next five years.

Pachauri, an MLA from Govindnagar in Kanpur, the erstwhile hub of the textile industry in the state, the government said that private investors should show interest as the government can only provide assistance. It does not have the resources to revive the mills on its own. They are focusing on promoting more investment in the textile sector from private sector. For that, they will provide incentives to smaller units as well as big units.

The draft of textile policy states that UP imports two-third of textile raw material and textile products. The policy aims to promoting all aspects of handloom, textile and sericulture, from the production of raw material to preparation of the final product.

The government is also planning to start two silk reeling units in the state so that the farmers could supply their raw materials there instead of selling it to units in other states. The incentives offered by the government will be provided for restarting shut powerlooms.