Maharashtra Integrated and Sustainable Textile Policy 2023-2028

The textiles and apparel industry contributes 2.3% to India's GDP, 13% to industrial production and 12% to exports, and is one of the largest sources of employment generation in the country with an estimated 45 million people directly engaged in the sector. Maharashtra accounts for 10.4% of the country's total textile and apparel production and 10.2% of the total employment in this sector, and produces 272 million kilograms of yarn, which is 12% of India's gross production. The textile sector is the second-largest employment enabler in Maharashtra, after agriculture.

The Textile Policy 2018-2023 ended on 31st March 2023 and was given extension till announcement of the new policy. The textile industry in Maharashtra needs to evolve and capture new and emerging opportunities in this rapidly changing global business environment. Therefore, the State is coming up with an Integrated and Sustainable Textile Policy for a period of 5 years.

1. Period of the Policy

This Integrated and Sustainable Textile Policy and all related schemes will come into effect from the date of issuance of this Government Resolution and will remain in force till 31st March 2028. In case the new policy does not get formulated by 31st March 2028, this policy will remain in operation for a maximum period of 1 year only.

2. Vision

The Integrated and Sustainable Textile Policy of the State is in line with the 5F vision of the Government of India — Farm to Fiber to Factory to Fashion to Foreign. The policy envisions integrating the whole textile value chain and creating an enabling environment for sustained growth of all sub-sectors in the industry. The Government will encourage sector-wide collaborations to accelerate a just transition towards a sustainable textile value chain through the 3-R model viz Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.

3. Objectives

• •Increase the processing capacity of cotton from 30% to 80% in the next 5 years.
• •Promote state of art infrastructure and technological upgradation to promote textile value chain in the State.
• •Policy envisages attracting investment of INR 25,000 crore and employment generation up to 5 lakhs in next 5 years.
• •Provide additional financial incentives to promote women empowerment and bring gender balancing in the textile industry by encouraging participation of women at all levels of management in textile industry.
• •Provide support for skill development and capacity building to ensure availability of skilled manpower to textile industry and increase employability in the sector.
• •Development of six (6) Technical Textile Parks in the State by encouraging private investment.
• •Promotion of Research and Development and Innovation to promote environment friendly processes / technologies in textile sector.
• •Creation of Maharashtra Technical Textile Mission for promotion of technical textile sector.
• •Establishment of Maharashtra State Textile Development Corporation for overall responsibility of development of textile sector and Maharashtra Technical Textile Mission.
• •Emphasizing the use of Information Technology to promote ease of doing business.
• •Promotion and development of Traditional Textile Sector.

The State of Maharashtra has been broadly divided into 4 zones based upon the development of the textile sector and availability of inputs for the textile industry — based on the level of cotton production, development of textile infrastructure such as parks / clusters, and level of skill development.

Size Classification

Definitions

Abbreviations

PLI — Production Linked Incentives; CIS — Capital Investment Subsidy; DFLs — Disease Free Laying; ETP — Effluent Treatment Plants; ZLD — Zero Liquid Discharge; MSEDCL — Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Co. Ltd.; MEDA — Maharashtra Energy Development Agency; MSTDC — Maharashtra State Textiles Development Corporation.

• •The eligible units which have already applied for incentives under the previous policy i.e. "Textile Policy 2018-2023" of the state will continue to get benefits under that policy till the time all due benefits have been disbursed to the units.
• •The Department will formulate a detailed Scheme for rehabilitation of sick cooperative units.
• •The Department will formulate a detailed Scheme for giving Cooperative spinning mills on lease or rent.
• •The Department will formulate a detailed Scheme for permitting cooperative spinning mills for sale of excess land.
• •In case the Central Government comes up with a new scheme related to the Textile sector, the State shall come out with a Government Resolution from time to time to adopt and implement the scheme in the state.
• •The Department will form a committee which will recommend the list of machinery to be considered eligible under the MAHA-Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme.
• •The Commissionerate of Textile and Directorate of Silk will be merged to create the Commissionerate of Textile and Sericulture, with corresponding mergers at regional levels named Regional Commissionerate of Textile and Sericulture, working co-terminus with the revenue divisions of Maharashtra.
• •Maharashtra State Textiles Development Corporation (MSTDC) will be established on the lines of MIDC under the Co-operation, Marketing and Textiles Department, post a functional merger of Maharashtra State Textiles Corporation, Maharashtra State Powerloom Corporation and Maharashtra State Handloom Corporation.
• •An amount equivalent to 2% of the Department's annual budget will be available for administrative expenses including policy promotion, policy implementation, and expenditure related to the Project Management Agency.

Disbursement of Capital Subsidy and MAHA-TUFS

In both schemes, the capital subsidy will be paid after the project comes into production, in two instalments — 1st instalment: 60% of eligible amount after 12 months; 2nd instalment: 40% of eligible amount after 24 months.

The Government Resolution repeats one identical Capital and Electricity Subsidy table across sub-sectors — Ginning & Pressing (Table 1), Private Spinning Mills (Table 5), Private Powerlooms (Table 10), Processing (Table 12), Knitting / Hosiery / Garmenting (Table 13), Non-Conventional and Synthetic Yarn / Fiber (Table 14) and Technical Textile individual units (Table 15). The Wool sector expressly takes the same rates. The single table is reproduced once below.

Capital subsidy percentages above are on fixed capital investment. Electricity subsidy for every size class and every Zone is "As per Annexure A".

Additional Capital Subsidy — Please Note

• •Additional capital subsidy of 5% for SC / ST / Minority / Ex-servicemen units.
• •Additional subsidy of 5% will be eligible for units being run by women (provided that more than 50% of the employees working are women).
• •In case the number of women employees exceeds 50, it will be mandatory for the units to have an availability of creche facility to qualify for the additional subsidy.

Electricity Subsidy and the Solar Conversion

• •In the case of electricity subsidy for existing units, subsidy will be provided as per the rates given in Annexure A for a period of 2 years only.
• •Post the set period of 2 years, no electricity subsidy will be provided. However, the subsidy amount of 12 months will be calculated and provided as capital subsidy for establishment of a solar power plant. (For co-operative spinning mills and co-operative powerlooms, the policy provides for 24 months instead of 12.)
• •The DPR for the solar plant shall be weighed and approved by Maharashtra Energy Development Agency (MEDA) or any other such agency decided by the Government from time to time.
• •The capital subsidy — electricity subsidy for 12 months / cost of the power plant up to maximum of 4 MW / capping of INR 4.8 crore, whichever is less — will be provided in 2 equal instalments with a gap of six months between the instalments, post the operationalization of the solar power plant. (For the co-operative sub-sectors the corresponding figures are 24 months and a capping of INR 9.6 crore.)
• •There will be a cap of INR 40 lakh per unit per month on the disbursement of monthly electricity subsidy.
• •For new units / units undertaking expansion, units will include the cost of installation of the solar power plant in the DPR and the capital subsidy will be calculated on the fixed capital investment (eligible plant and machinery and solar plant) up to a maximum of 4MW capacity.
• •Although Textile Units / Projects can establish solar plants of more than 4MW capacity, the entire financial burden for establishing capacity over 4MW shall be borne by the unit / project itself.
• •In any case the total capacity of the solar power plant being established shall not exceed the approved load / contract demand of conventional energy.

The scheme will facilitate units in augmenting investments, productivity, quality, employment and exports along with import substitution in the textile sector. The State will offer the following reimbursement of Capital Investment Subsidy (CIS) for technology upgradation. This identical table appears for Co-operative Spinning Mills (Table 4), Private Spinning Mills (Table 6), Co-operative Powerlooms (Table 9) and Private Powerlooms (Table 11).

Conditions for Technology Upgradation Under MAHA-TUFS

• •The unit has completed 15 years of production on the existing machinery.
• •The unit has a net positive worth.
• •The unit uses clean energy.
• •The unit has paid-back / returned at least 50% of the Government share capital. (This condition applies to the co-operative spinning and co-operative powerloom sub-sectors.)
• •The Detailed Project Report (DPR) under the MAHA-TUFS has been approved by the Committee formed by the state government.

7.1 Ginning and Pressing Sector

The ginning and pressing industry in the State has been gaining momentum in recent times due to various incentives offered by centrally sponsored and state sponsored schemes. Capital and electricity subsidy is as per the standard zone-wise table above (Table 1).

7.2.1 Co-operative Spinning Mills

Co-operative spinning mills have been instrumental in initiating socio-economic changes in the State. As many as 140 co-operative spinning mills in the State have been given financial assistance of INR 2046.67 crore by way of share capital. For new cooperative units under this policy, the ratio of self-equity, government equity and loan from financial institutions is as per Zone:

Electricity subsidy is as per Annexure A across all four Zones, with the 24-month / INR 9.6 crore solar conversion described above. MAHA-TUFS applies as per the standard CIS table. One Time Exit Policy — Co-operative spinning mills will be allowed to be privatized provided they are ready to return the government equity, loan, and interest thereupon. If there is any change in the industrial use of the land, an amount will have to be paid to the government as per the prevailing rules; the detailed process shall be defined through a separate Government Resolution.

7.2.2 Private Spinning Mills

Private spinning mills play a significant role in the processing of the overall cotton production of the state; the state has more than double the number of spinning mills in the private sector as compared to the cooperative sector. Capital and electricity subsidy is as per the standard zone-wise table (Table 5), and MAHA-TUFS as per the standard CIS table (Table 6).

7.3.1 Co-operative Powerlooms

The state government has given financial support to 450 primary powerlooms and other co-operative units in the state under the scheme of NCDC (National Cooperative Development Corporation). These incentives will be at par with the cooperative spinning sector. Share capital ratios (Table 7) are identical to Table 2 — Zone 1: 5/45/50, Zone 2: 10/40/50, Zone 3: 15/35/50, Zone 4: 20/30/50. Incentives will be provided to new Powerlooms based on latest technology (excluding plain Powerloom), Weaving, Preparatory, Warping, Sizing, Conning, Twisting, Doubling, TFO and other units. A One Time Exit Policy on the same terms as co-operative spinning mills applies.

7.3.2 Private Powerlooms

Maharashtra has over 13 lakh powerlooms accounting for 50% of the powerlooms in the country, playing an important role in the modern weaving sector. Incentives will be provided to new Powerlooms based on latest technology (excluding plain Powerlooms), Weaving, Preparatory, Warping, Sizing, Conning, Twisting, Doubling, TFO and other units. These incentives will be at par with the private spinning sector — capital and electricity subsidy as per Table 10, MAHA-TUFS as per Table 11.

The Handloom sector is one of the largest unorganized sectors and constitutes an integral part of the rural and semi-rural livelihood. As per the 4th Handloom Census conducted by Government of India in 2018, Maharashtra has 3354 handlooms in the State which are being run by 3509 handloom workers.

The State would extend benefits as provided by the National Handloom Development Programme (NHDP) scheme of the Central Government, covering cluster development programme, handloom marketing assistance with special emphasis on uncovered and talented weavers, infrastructure and special projects including Indian Institute of Handloom related projects, Mega Handloom cluster, concessional credit / Weavers MUDRA loan, Handloom Weavers Welfare and other miscellaneous components.

7.5 Processing Sector

The processing of yarn and fabrics at pre-loom as well as post-loom stages is significantly contributing to the essential customization of the product and aesthetic value addition. The processing sector includes dyeing, printing and cloth preparation prior to manufacturing clothing. There are 674 processing units in the State. Capital and electricity subsidy is as per the standard zone-wise table (Table 12).

7.6 Knitting, Hosiery, Garmenting Sector

The State of Maharashtra currently has 110 knitting, hosiery and garmenting units. The State is incentivizing to increase the garmenting sector in the state to complete the value chain and promote sale of finished products. Capital and electricity subsidy is as per the standard zone-wise table (Table 13). In addition, financial assistance shall be provided to entrepreneurs / companies / institutions for establishment of new:

• •Decentralized small garmenting units with a core mother unit coordinating operations / training / logistics etc. to generate employment at the doorstep in Zone 1. Financial assistance will be provided as per project size and zone.
• •Garment / Apparel Design & Development Facility / Digital Printing Facility co-located with mother units. Financial assistance will be to the tune of 20% of the total cost of the facility with the upper cap of INR 50 Lakhs.
• •A minimum ratio of 1:10 between mother and child unit shall be maintained for the purpose of availing any of the above benefits.
• •Plug & play premises will be established by MIDC in each District / Taluka in every Zone for setting up of knitting, hosiery and garmenting units.

Maharashtra is a non-traditional silk producing state that produces both Mulberry and Tasar Silks. It occupies 1st position in silk production among non-traditional states and 13th position among 29 silk producing states. At present 12,809 farmers are involved in silk production through mulberry plantation in about 13,582 acres of land, and 853 farmers are involved in Tasar plantation covering 3963 Ha. 27 districts have mulberry plantation and 4 districts have Tasar plantation — a total of 31 districts involved in silk production. Tasar silk is principally grown in four districts of Vidarbha: Gondia, Gadchiroli, Bhandara and Chandrapur.

7.7.1 Farming and Cocoon Production

• •Promoting sericulture and group farming to create a guaranteed source of income for farmers, with private sector involvement promoted to sustain sericulture.
• •To increase the average cocoon production from 60kg to 70kg per batch of 100 Disease Free Layings (DFLs).
• •To increase the capacity of the government grainage center at Gadhinglaj, Dist. Kolhapur and to set up a new grainage center at Aurangabad. Two additional grainage centres will be set up in Zone 1 and Zone 3. All Government subsidies will be given to the DFLs produced within the State.
• •To develop basic seed farms at Suleran (Kolhapur), Amboli (Sindhudurg), Chikalthana (Aurangabad) and Khor (Buldhana), supplying quality DFLs by rearing P-3 and P-2 DFLs.
• •Setting up of private and government silk cocoon production centers, Chawki centers, nurseries etc. will be encouraged, with 100% DFL supply through Chawki centers by encouraging private entrepreneurs.
• •Mulberry silk farming will be increased by 10,000 acres in the next 5 years; target to increase 2000 Tasar beneficiaries in 5 years.
• •Tasar Silk farming will be increased through greater plantation of Ain / Arjun trees in collaboration with the Forest Department. As Tasar is a forest farm plantation, the beneficiary area's ceiling will be increased from 2 Ha to 4 Ha in areas having Ain / Arjun trees.
• •The benefits under the current Sericulture scheme are limited to holdings of 1 acre which limits provision of "farm ponds". In view of providing irrigation, the benefits will be extended to holdings of 5 acres while keeping the costs same for the unskilled component.

7.7.2 Marketing

• •The work of establishing an open government cocoon market at Jalna and Solapur will be completed, with funds allocated to each market to bring it to international standards.
• •Government mulberry cocoon markets on the pattern of Jalna and Solapur will be established in Zone 1 and Zone 3.
• •Raw silk exchange market will be set up at Jalna and Baramati, ensuring international gradation facilities and quality centres.
• •Purchase and sale of silk cocoons at competitive market prices will be encouraged through e-NAM.
• •Tasar cocoon market will be set up at Armori (Gadchiroli district).
• •Development of one silk farm as a Model Silk Farm / Silk Training Center in every Zone.
• •Tasar tourism corridor will be established across the forest / tiger reserves at Pench and Nagzira through the Forest Department and MTDC.
• •Silk Tourism Corridor will be established in Aurangabad to promote Paithani Silk sarees.

7.7.3 – 7.7.4 Processing, Training and IEC

• •The State shall support establishment of Paithani weavers' clusters at village level with a minimum of 20 weavers in one cluster.
• •2 Drying centres and godown facilities will be made available to store and preserve Tasar silk cocoons.
• •Mahareshim Campaign will be conducted during November-December each year in collaboration with BARTI (Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Research and Training Institute, Pune) or other institutes to create awareness on sericulture and register new farmers.
• •Strengthening of 10 existing Government sericulture farms into high-tech training centres by providing state-of-the-art infrastructure and equipment (decentralised training institutes).
• •Development of one Regional Sericulture Research Station (RSRS) at Aurangabad with the help of Central Silk Board, Bangalore.
• •Establishment of Maharashtra Silk Training Institute in the premises of the Grainage centre at Aurangabad.

7.7.5 Centrally Sponsored Scheme — Silk Samagra-2

An integrated scheme for development of the silk industry, providing assistance to farmers for mulberry plantation, construction of rearing house, procurement of rearing equipment and irrigation facility.

7.7.6 State Sponsored Scheme — Reeling and Twisting Sheds

7.8 Traditional Textiles

The policy aims to ensure livelihood protection of traditional textile weavers and encourage them against cross-sectoral employment migration. The following five textiles in Maharashtra will be considered as traditional textiles: Paithani saree (Aurangabad), Himroo (Aurangabad), Karvat Kathi (Vidarbha), Khana fabric (Southern Maharashtra) and Ghongadi (Western Maharashtra).

• •Festival allowance of INR 10,000 per male weaver and INR 15,000 per female weaver will be provided to certified and registered weavers in the above 5 sectors on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi yearly.
• •The best designs in the above 5 sectors will be felicitated during National Handloom Day, with prize money of INR 20,000, 15,000 and 10,000 for first, second and third position respectively.
• •The State Government will formulate an "Old Age Pension Scheme" for traditional textile weavers after attaining 60 years of age, taking into consideration the opinion of the Social Justice and Special Assistance Department.
• •Certified traditional weavers will be encouraged to register as Master Trainers (for practical training) under the Skill Development Programme. Remuneration will be as per the existing policy of the Skills, Employment, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Department.

7.9 Wool Sector

• •Capital and Electricity subsidy — the benefits of electricity and capital subsidy shall remain the same as in the tables in the spinning, processing, knitting, hosiery and garmenting sections.
• •To process the "Deccan wool" produced in the state, the state government will set up a processing industry on an experimental basis in Public Private Partnership in collaboration with the Wool Research Association (Thane) under the auspices of the central government. Similar projects will be set up in sheep rearing districts based on the success of the pilot project.
• •A scheme will be formulated for onsite visits and training for enhanced skill development. Further, a plan of action will be formulated to reserve government land for "sheep rearing areas".

7.10 Non-Conventional Yarn / Fiber and Synthetic Yarn / Fiber

Special focus will be given to research on production and use of non-conventional yarn and fibers such as bamboo, banana, ambadi, ghaypat, maize, coir, etc. Incentives will also be provided for production and use of non-conventional yarn. Farming of these sources of non-conventional yarns will be included within the ambit of MGNREGA, and farm ponds for irrigation will be made available wherever required. The State shall also encourage the production of synthetic / man-made fibers including Rayon, Nylon, Polyester and Acrylic. The capital subsidy will be extended to fiber and yarn machinery, at the standard zone-wise rates (Table 14).

The textile and apparel manufacturing industries are polluting industries and need to comply with stringent environmental compliances. The State Government is very keen to adopt environmentally friendly and green technologies for sustainable production.

9. Textile Parks

The State Government has been providing assistance for developing common infrastructure facilities for promotion of textile parks, in addition to the assistance being provided by the Central Government. At present, there are 13 approved textile parks in the State. Government of India provides financial assistance at INR 40 Crore or 40% of the FCI, whichever is less. In proportion to this, the State Government provides financial assistance at INR 9 Crore or 9% of the FCI, whichever is less.

10.1 Technical Textile — Individual Units

Technological advancements, increase in end-use applications, cost-effectiveness, durability, user-friendliness and eco-friendliness of technical textiles have led to an upsurge in demand in the global market. Individual technical textile units receive capital and electricity subsidy as per the standard zone-wise table (Table 15).

10.2 Technical Textile Parks — Eligibility

Given the large base of textiles in the State, it is proposed to set up 6 Technical Textile Parks in the 4 Zones of the State. Zone 1 and Zone 4 will have 2 Parks each and the other two Zones will have 1 park each. Land will be made available in MIDC area and supporting infrastructure at 6 revenue divisions — Konkan (1), Western Maharashtra (1), North Maharashtra (1), Marathwada (1), Vidarbha (2). The park must fulfil all the below criteria to qualify for incentives:

• •To qualify as a park the criteria will be to have minimum 10 technical textile units.
• •None of the units should have more than 25% of the total required park area as per the Detailed Project Report.
• •A minimum fixed capital investment (FCI) of INR 400 crore is mandatory to qualify as a technical textile park. Cost of land and building will not be included in FCI.
• •The Technical Textile Park must have an established skill development centre with a minimum capacity of 30 individuals and ensure continuous training.

10.2 Technical Textile Parks — Incentives

11. Marketing Support

• •Providing exclusive identity to handloom products domestically and internationally, the State will promote its products through "Handloom Mark", "Silk Mark" and "India Handloom Brand".
• •Four Special exhibitions will be organized every year in big cities of the country outside Maharashtra to promote the sale of cotton, silk, handloom and powerloom products produced by the weavers of Maharashtra. The weavers will be provided assistance to participate in such exhibitions. A provision of INR 50 Lakh per exhibition will be made for this purpose.
• •Captive Market — the Department will formulate a scheme with detailed guidelines to enable each BPL family to purchase one saree every year.
• •Maharashtra State Textiles Development Corporation (MSTDC) will act as a nodal agency for promotion of marketing of State handloom products.

12. Skill Development and Capacity Building

• •In order to develop the skills of handloom weavers, a training program under the Skill Development Program will be conducted through Weaver Seva Kendra or Technical Training Institute in places where there are handloom clusters in the state.
• •Training Centres — the State Government shall provide assistance to upgrade existing skill centres as well as set up new Training Centers providing skill training for various courses in textile such as garmenting and apparel production. The assistance will be 50% of the total cost, subject to INR 20 lakh per centre, through the Skills, Employment, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Department, towards purchase of equipment and machinery (including installation cost, electrification and necessary furniture).
• •Short term courses / vocational training programs will be run by the Skills, Employment, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Department through ITIs and Vocational training providers.
• •MoUs will be signed with prominent Associations and Training Institutes such as Clothing Manufacturers Association of India and D.K.T.E. Society's Textile and Engineering Institute to impart training in the Knitwear and Garmenting sector.
• •MoUs will be signed with institutes of excellence such as IIT Mumbai, NIFT Mumbai, Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute and SASMIRA to promote research and textile entrepreneurship in modern technology and design.

13. Project Management Agency

The Department of Textiles, Government of Maharashtra shall appoint a team of professionals as Project Management Agency (PMA) for policy implementation and stakeholder outreach. The PMA will also support the department in publicizing the policy incentives among national and international investors, brands and other stakeholders, and providing prompt support to investors.

14. Maharashtra State Textiles Development Corporation (MSTDC)

MSTDC will be established as a statutory corporation on the lines of MIDC. All the existing corporations will be merged into MSTDC. All the assets of the present corporations will be transferred to MSTDC and all liabilities will be restructured as per Government directives. The Department will establish this Corporation within a period of one year from the release of the policy.

15. Under this Policy, Government Resolutions and guidelines for implementation of the policy from the point of view of General Administrative Measures will be issued separately. 16. This Government Resolution is issued as per Finance Department UOR Number 389/2023/Expenditure-2 dated 01st June 2023 and the decision taken by the State Cabinet on 30th May 2023.