PLI Scheme for Textiles

Why in news?

• Taking steps forward towards the vision of an ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’, Government has approved the PLI Scheme for Textiles for MMF Apparel, MMF Fabrics and 10 segments/ products of Technical Textiles with a budgetary outlay of Rs. 10,683 crores.
• PLI scheme for Textiles is part of the overall announcement of PLI Schemes for 13 sectors made earlier during the Union Budget 2021-22, with an outlay of Rs. 1.97 lakh crore.
• With the announcement of PLI Schemes for 13 sectors, minimum production in India is expected to be around Rs. 37.5 lakh crore over 5 years and the minimum expected employment over 5 years is nearly 1 crore.

• PLI scheme for Textiles will promote the production of high-value MMF fabrics, Garments and Technical Textiles in the country.
• The incentive structure has been so formulated that industry will be encouraged to invest in fresh capacities in these segments.
• This will give a major push to the growing high-value MMF segment which will complement the efforts of the cotton and other natural fibre-based textiles industry in generating new opportunities for employment and trade, resultantly helping India regain its historical dominant status in global textiles trade.
• The Technical Textiles segment is a new-age textile, whose application in several sectors of the economy, including infrastructure, water, health and hygiene, defence, security, automobiles, aviation, etc. will improve the efficiencies in those sectors of the economy.
• The government has also launched a National Technical Textiles Mission in the past for promoting R&D efforts in that sector. PLI will help further, in attracting investment in this segment.
• There are two types of investment possible with a different set of incentive structure.

1. Any person, (which includes firm / company) willing to invest a minimum ? of 300 Crore in Plant, Machinery, Equipment and Civil Works (excluding land and administrative building cost) to produce products of Notified lines (MMF Fabrics, Garment) and products of Technical Textiles, shall be eligible to apply for participation in first part of the scheme.
2. In the second part any person, (which includes firm/company) willing to invest a minimum? 100 Crore shall be eligible to apply for participation in this part of the scheme.

• In addition, priority will be given for investment in Aspirational Districts, Tier 3, Tier 4 towns, and rural areas and due to this priority Industry will be incentivized to move to the backward areas.
• This scheme will positively impact especially States like Gujarat, UP, Maharashtra, Tamilnadu, Punjab, AP, Telangana, Odisha etc.
• It is estimated that over the period of five years, the PLI Scheme for Textiles will lead to fresh investment of more than Rs.19,000 crore, cumulative turnover of over Rs.3 lakh crore will be achieved under this scheme and, will create additional employment opportunities of more than 7.5 lakh jobs in this sector and several lakhs more for supporting activities.
• The textile industry predominantly employs women, therefore, the scheme will empower women and increase their participation in formal economy.

Click here to read other news related to the Textile sector of India

• National Textile Policy 2020

• National Technical Textiles Mission

Dr V Anantha Nageswaran: New Chief Economic Advisor

About Chief Economic Advisor

• The Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) is a post in the Government of India and is equivalent to the rank of Secretary to the Government of India.
• The CEA is head of the Economic Division of the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India.
• The CEA is the ex-officio cadre controlling authority of the Indian Economic Service.
• Until 2009, the CEA’s position was a Union Public Service Commission appointment and until the 1970s almost all CEAs were members of the Indian Economic Service.

Role of a Chief Economic Advisor (CEA)

• In his 2018 book titled Of Counsel: The Challenges of the Modi-Jaitley Economy, former CEA Arvind Subramanian stated that the job of the CEA carried no executive responsibility.
• According to him, the only clearly defined job of the CEA was to produce the Economic Survey of India preceding the Union Budget.

About Dr. V. Anantha Nageswaran

• The Government has appointed Dr V. Anantha Nageswaran as the Chief Economic Advisor and today, he has assumed charge.
• Prior to this appointment, Dr Nageswaran worked as a writer, author, teacher and consultant. He has taught at several business schools and institutes of management in India and in Singapore and has published extensively.
• He was the Dean of the IFMR Graduate School of Business and a distinguished Visiting Professor of Economics at Korea University.
• He has also been a part-time member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India from 2019 to 2021. He holds a Post-Graduate Diploma in Management from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and a doctoral degree from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.

Note: Before V A Nageswaran, Krishnamurthy Subramanian was the CEA. Before K Subramanian; Arvind Subramaniam was the CEA.