The Centre has withdrawn its proposal on setting up a textile park in Kalaburagi owing to poor response from investors, Minister for Handloom and Textiles Shrimant B. Patil informed the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday.
In a reply to Priyank Kharge of the Congress during the Question Hour, Mr. Patil said the proposal was mooted about a decade ago. The State government requested the Centre to continue the work on the park but the latter rejected the request and asked the State to refund ₹1.85 crore, which was released for infrastructure work at the textile park.
A few days ago, Mr. Patil said he met Union Textile Minister Smriti Irani and sought the Centre’s support in establishment of the park. Ms. Irani is yet to respond to the State’s request. Mr. Patil said many subsidies and incentives had been offered to investors under the new textile policy of the State government.
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Mr. Kharge urged the government to establish a special purpose vehicle (SPV) and invest in it to set up the park.
In reply to a question from Siddu Savadi (BJP), Mr. Patil said the Finance Department had rejected the department’s proposal to purchase six lakh saris from powerloom weavers who were in distress owing to the pandemic. It had been proposed to buy six lakh saris for distribution to COVID-19 frontline workers.