Man-made Fibre To Be New Growth Mantra for Tiruppur Knitwear Cluster

Tiruppur, Jul 11 (KNN) The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) has announced plans to examine the potential for expanding the knitwear cluster in Tiruppur through exports of manmade fibre (MMF) garments.

This announcement was made by S.C.L. Das, Secretary of the MSME Ministry, during a stakeholders' meeting organised by the Tiruppur Exporters' Association (TEA) on Wednesday.

The initiative comes in response to a proposal by TEA's honorary chairman, A. Sakthivel, to boost Tiruppur's annual export turnover beyond its current Rs 35,000 crore by venturing into the MMF sector.

Das stated that the Ministry will collaborate with NITI Aayog to formulate achievable plans for this expansion.

In addition to exploring MMF exports, Das indicated that the Ministry would consider TEA's request to revise the criteria for the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme. The association has proposed setting the investment threshold at Rs 25 crore and the turnover requirement at Rs 75 crore.

The meeting also saw TEA president K.M. Subramanian presenting a charter of demands to the MSME Secretary. This followed a broader industry consultation held in Coimbatore on Tuesday, where Das and Tamil Nadu's MSME Secretary Archana Patnaik met with representatives from over 10 industrial associations.

M. Karthikeyan, president of the Coimbatore District Small Industries Association (CODISSIA), reported positive feedback on their demands related to banking norms. Das emphasised the critical role of MSMEs in India's economy, noting that they contribute 39 per cent of the country's exports.

Industry leaders have also called for a revision of the investment and turnover limits used to classify industries as MSMEs. Karthikeyan expressed hope that the government would consider their suggestions in formulating a new MSME policy, as the current one dates back to 2006.

This initiative underscores the government's commitment to bolstering India's textile sector and supporting the growth of MSMEs, which are crucial drivers of the nation's economic development and export performance.

(KNN Bureau)