AP Industries Minister proposes setting up NIFT in Vizag

Andhra Pradesh State Minister for Industries and Commerce, Mekapati Goutham Reddy, has proposed to Union Minister for Textiles, Smriti Irani, to establish a National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) in Vizag. He also requested the sanctioning of mega textile parks in Anantapur and Nellore Districts under the Mega Investment Textiles Parks (MITRA) Scheme. Collaborating with the Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone (AMTZ), Vizag is expected to develop as a hub for technical textiles. Mr Reddy sought support from the Union Minister for this as well.

Elaborating on this request, Mr Reddy, in his representation to the Union Minister in New Delhi, said that Bengaluru, being in close proximity to Anantapur, would give a tremendous boost for the textile business. He expressed that, if a similar facility is established near Krishnapatnam, in Nellore District, it would help in establishing greater multimodal connectivity. In addition, the Minister also stated that Vizag would be an ideal fit for NIFT, adding that high-speed endorsements, and land allocation, will be taken care of by the state government.

During the meeting, Mr Reddy also requested the second installment of funds to develop block-level handloom clusters under the National Handloom Development Programme (NHDP). He requested the share of the marketing incentives, under the NHDP, which belongs to the Government of India, to be released.
Mr Reddy expressed his need for support, from the Ministry of Textiles, for the SPKM Indian Institute of Handloom Technology at Venkatagiri, Nellore district.

Smriti Irani was requested to release the Rs 31 crore share that the Central government holds in the funding of 377 handloom weavers’ cooperative societies, for the 2013-18 period.

Further processing, and sanction, of spinning wheels, has also been requested. Thirty six of which have undergone joint inspections and await the release of subsidy under the Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme. The remaining forty eight are yet to be approved post inspection.