Readymade garment makers of Jabalpur are awaiting an industrial cluster in the vicinity of the town. |
Jabalpur has more than 550 small units manufacturing garments, including mainly aalwar suits (a traditional dress for Indian women), trousers, and shirts. |
These units receive orders mostly from Southern India's reputed brands. The turnover, according to a rough estimate, stands at Rs 10 crore annually. |
Though a proposal for developing a cluster is ready for them, the garment manufacturers do not want to move to an area identified by the state government. |
The government should shift the units to Gurandi (a prime commercial locality), and thereby work and dispatches would be easier, a local garment manufacturer told Business Standard on the telephone from Jabalpur. |
The state government has finalised the Rs 27-crore "cluster development plan", but it is still on the drawing board. It also plans to ask the Centre for financial support under the "Industrial Upgrade Plan". |
"If the manufacturers are ready to move the Richhai industrial area, we can start the cluster in a year," a senior official in the state industrial department told Business Standard, adding, "as Gurandi is a commercial area, it will increase the project cost and there will be more difficulties in developing the cluster in that area." |
Under the cluster development plan, facilities like a community centre, a market centre, sheds for units, a complex for guests and transportation, etc. are to be planned on an area of 10 acres. |
"The complexes will be multistoried and will create direct and indirect employment to at least 10,000 people," said the official. However, a problem is that the scheme requires contribution from industry. |
"The manufacturers are not interested in contributing to the fund. But we will manage to get the funds cleared from the Centre," said the official. |