Develop new industrial belt for textiles'

Bangalore: The Karnataka chapter of the CII has urged the Government to develop a new industrial belt for textile and apparel industry in the Srirangapatnam-Mysore-Nanjangud region.

With self-contained infrastructure facility and the Cauvery river flowing near the belt, the textile complex could attract investors from Tirupur and Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, which regions are facing acute water shortage.

The new textile belt should be extended tax breaks up to 2011 and VAT exemption to textile and garment exporters.

In a `Vision Document' on the textile and garment sector, CII (Karnataka) has also urged the Government to bring machinery spares and accessories like buttons and industrial vacuum ironing table under a union VAT of four per cent against 12.5 per cent being charged now.

The document has stressed the need to strengthen infrastructure facilities in the existing industrial belts like Yeshwantpur and Peenya, which have concentration of apparel export units. The Vision Document said that the textile and apparel industry in the State saw 19.6 per cent growth over the last five years against the national average of under 10 per cent.

The textile and garments industry in Karnataka had the potential to double its revenue to Rs 15,000 crore in the next four years, while the employment potential is expected to be one million.