Govt unveils textile policy

The Andhra Pradesh government has announced a five-year textile and apparel promotion policy offering various incentives including power subsidy and free land to new units besides removing certain restrictions on working hours and service conditions.  
Under the policy, the state government will notify all textile and apparel parks as public utility services and will also ensure the implementation of Essential Service Maintenance Act (ESMA) to provide facility of engaging workers beyond the normal working hours for achieving higher productivity and to attract export market.  
  
The Andhra Pradesh State Contract Labour Act will be made applicable to the apparel and textile industry. The government has promised to provide flexible and conducive labour environment by implementing labour reforms in this regard. The policy, which was approved by the state Cabinet recently, aims to achieve 15 lakh employment in the state by 2010.  
  
According to a press release issued by the state information & public relations minister Mohammed Ali Shabbir during the Cabinet briefing, the state government will provide a special package of incentives to all the mega projects that will create employment of more than 2,500 people or invest Rs 100 crore or above.All the new apparel and textile units will get a power subsidy of 25 paise per unit in addition to 75 paise subsidy announced in the new industrial policy recently. By 2008, all the major textile /apparel units will be permitted to produce captive power by utilising the natural gas.  
  
The government will also give a one-time grant of Rs 5,000 for each worker employed by garmenting, weaving, knitting or processing units towards their training apart from a one-time infrastructure grant of Rs 1,000 per worker. It will also acquire land on the applications of SPVs for setting up integrated textile parks wherever required. These parks will be developed with public-private participation.  
  
Keeping in view the labour-intensive nature of the industry, the units started in export parks will be given free land for the construction of barracks to house the workers at the rate of one acre per 1,000 workers. The government has also offered infrastructural provisions like water and power at the doorsteps of the units.  
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