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Business Standard

Textile ministry reopens PLI scheme for MMF, tech textiles till Aug 31

The Ministry of Textiles on Friday announced that it will invite fresh applications under the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for the textiles sector, following requests from industry stakeholders. 'In view of the requests from the industry stakeholders, the Ministry of Textiles has decided to reopen the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme portal for inviting fresh applications from interested companies under the PLI Scheme for Textiles for MMF apparel, MMF fabrics and products of technical textiles,' the ministry said in a statement. The application portal will remain open till 31 August. The announcement comes at a time when the United States (US) has imposed a 50 per cent tariff on Indian imports. A 25 per cent tariff took effect on 7 August, with an additional 25 per cent set to kick in from 28 August. Labour-intensive sectors such as textiles are expected to be among the worst hit. All terms and conditions, as notified earlier through the respective scheme guidelines, will continue to apply for the fresh round of applications. 'The Ministry urges all interested companies to take advantage of this opportunity and submit their applications within the specified period,' the statement added. The Centre had approved the PLI scheme for textiles in September 2021, with a budgetary outlay of ₹10,683 crore over five years, aimed at boosting the production of man-made fibre (MMF) apparel and fabrics, among other categories. So far, the Centre has approved 80 applicants under the scheme. During the current financial year, the government aims to disburse ₹500 crore as incentive under the PLI scheme. Over five years, the scheme is expected to attract fresh investments of more than ₹19,000 crore and create over 750,000 jobs. MMFs include viscose, polyester and acrylic, which are made from chemicals. Technical textiles, on the other hand, are new-age materials used in the production of personal protective equipment (PPE) kits, airbags and bulletproof vests, and also find applications in sectors such as aviation, defence and infrastructure. The textiles ministry had first released the scheme guidelines in December 2021. However, the government initially received only 64 applications, with total investment commitments of around ₹6,000 crore. Some industry players informed the government that they were hesitant to invest in the proposed textile categories due to lack of expertise. Since its launch, progress under the PLI scheme for textiles has been tepid. Last year, a Cabinet Secretary-led committee flagged the shortfall in investment progress during FY24 in three of the 14 PLI sectors, including textiles.