Leather, apparel parks will create 22.5 lakh jobs in 5 years, says CM

Chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu laid the foundation stone here today for the construction of the prestigious Nayudamma International Leather Export Park (Nilex), designed to be a public-private partnership format with an estimated cost of Rs 60 crore.

The project is expected to provide employment to 5,000 leather artisans directly and indirect employment to 15,000 in a phased manner.

Speaking at the occasion, the chief minister said that 94 leather parks and 17 apparel and textile parks proposed to be completed in the next five years will together create around 22.5 lakh jobs.

"The objectives of Vision-2020 are aimed at alleviating the poverty in the state. The government wants to remove the 40 lakh families from the 'below poverty line' status in the next five to six years. The present endeavour will go a long way in achieving this goal," Naidu said. The state government has prepared an action plan to establish 72 mini, 16 medium and 6 mega leather parks throughout the state, he added.

The chief minister said that though the state produces 10 per cent of the raw hides and skins that are available in the country, it could only tan a meagre five per cent of it due to poor tanning facilities and lack of modern, skilled manpower infrastructure.

The remaining raw hides and skins are transported to other states. In the process, creating a loss of Rs 1,500 crore annually in value-addition, he stated.

To bridge this gap, the Leather Industries Development Corporation(LIDCAP) has prepared a massive programme christened 'Mlupu' for the poorest of the poor in capacity building, skill upgradation, technology upgradation apart from common infrastructure development.

The chief minister also inaugurated the Common Facility Centre, set up for the leather artisans at the Nilex complex. It is expected to provide direct employment to 1,500 artisans and indirect employment to 3,000 people more.

The Nilex is coming up on a sprawling 37-acre plot near Gachibowli, with state-of-the-art common facility centre having imported footwear machinery.

Once completed, the park will provide onsite and offsite infrastructure such as conference halls, exhibition halls, business development centre, common research facilities among others.

With the election schedule expected to be announced in a couple of days, Naidu has come up with a novel idea of performing the foundation-laying and inaugural ceremonies of about half a dozen apparel and textile parks in different parts of the state from his office in the state secretariat through the video conferencing facility after completing the ceremony at Nilex project site.

The projects which the chief minister performed the foundation laying ceremony from the secretariat include the Rs 36-crore integrated textile and apparel park at Warangal, the Rs 12.37-crore Pasha Mailaram textile park in Medak district and three more textile parks at Rajam in Srikakulam district, Pamidi in Ananthapur district and Mangalagiri in Guntur district.

He also inaugurated the Rs 26.26-crore apparel export park at Vizag, apparel units in Gundla Pochampally apparel export park and the Siricilla textile park constructed with a cost of Rs 7.73 crore.