The decline of powerloom units began in 1986, when the town started facing power shortages and entry tax on cotton was imposed. There were 150 powerloom co-operative committees registered in the state. Of those, 99 were operational. Though no accurate data are available on operational powerlooms in the state, local associations' records say of the 32,871 installed powerlooms, 26,700 powerlooms are operational. The sizing and processing units of the town are also age-old and need improvement or modernisation.
Of the total 100 sizing units, 90 are operational. There are 10 cloth-processing units also.
"All these units are old and need to be replaced with most modern sizing and processing units," said Fareed Sheikh, owner of a processing unit, adding, "each processing unit needs at least Rs 2 crore for modernisation."
Last year 150 small and medium powerloom unit owners formed a co-operative called "Burhanpur Fairdeal Cooperative Society" to set up a textile park for weavers. But the state government turned down their demand for exemptions in stamp duty and fees for registering 54 acres.
The society had proposed to set up the park with an investment of Rs 300 crore at nearby Nimbola village but the government offered no support. "The stamp and registration charges are more than the cost of the land. We cannot deposit heavy stamp duty and registration fees. Plus, an annual diversion tax of more than Rs 20 lakh is proposed to be levied," a member of the co-operative told Business Standard.
"The society did not show interest in our demand for Rs 2 crore consultancy fee. Else, this proposal would have been cleared. The cooperative approached the government but was not convincing," Jitendra Tiwari, executive director of Cedmap, told Business Standard.
Cedmap had agreed upon project management consultancy on a turnkey basis so that the entrepreneurs could get maximum benefit from the central government scheme and facilities available in the state.
Also the state has made no efforts to avail itself of the Scheme for Integrated Textile Parks (SITP), launched in 2005, by merging the Apparel Parks for Export Scheme (APE) and the Textile Centre Infrastructure Development Scheme (TCIDS). The primary objective of the scheme is to provide industry with world-class infrastructure facilities for setting up textile units in clusters.
Under the scheme, the central government offers 40 per cent subsidy as stakeholder, entrepreneurs hold 51 per cent of the shares as owners of land and other infrastructure and the state government is expected to contribute 9 per cent either as equity or in any other form.
A special purpose vehicle created by Burhanpur-based textile mill owners and named Indo MP Hi-Tech Textiles Zone Pvt. Ltd proposed to set up another textile park with an investment of Rs 771.31 crore but it also failed to take off.
The project received nod from the Union ministry of textiles, which assured picking up 40 per cent in the park through subsidy, but the state government has not responded to the industries on its share in the park. "For the past two years the state government has not responded to our demands," Syed Farid, chairman of the SPV, told Business Standard.
However, the district industry centre of Burhanpur has said it has provided necessary support. "We have forwarded documents to the state government; now only the cabinet can decide about picking up 9 per cent in the park," a senior official in the DIC of Burhanpur told Business Standard.
