Textile parks will soon come up at the country's second highest cotton producing state Maharashtra, aimed at boosting textile and apparel production in the state. Maharashtra, which is likely to produce around 36 lakh cotton bales (one bale equals 170 kg) this year, is looking to extend its presence in apparel manufacturing and not restrict its activities to textile production. "Textile business in the state is out of indebtedness. The entrepreneurs should add value to their trade by shifting to advanced production technology. Textile parks would be of immense help in this," Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said. The parks would include end-to-end processes from spinning, weaving, garment processing to hosiery, embroidery and jet looms. Financial institutions like Small Industries Development Bank of India and IL&FS have already evinced interest in financing such parks under a public-private partnership model. "Maharashtra's rural economy is centred on milk, sugar and cotton. The textile business would have better prospects in the days to come," Maharahstra's Minister of State for Textiles Jai Prakash Dandekar said. Vidarbha and parts of central Maharashtra are the state's main cotton growing regions.
