The Maharashtra government has decided to allow privatisation of spinning mills and powerloom societies that are operated on the cooperative basis across the state.
The state's new Textile Policy allows cooperative spinning mills and powerloom societies to change the use of land, which allows them to engage in other than industrial purposes.
As per the policy, cooperative spinning mills and powerloom societies will be allowed to be privatised, provided they are ready to return to the government the equity, loan and interest thereupon, a government official said.
"If there is any change in the industrial use of the land, then an amount will have to be paid to the government as per the prevailing rules under the 'one time exit policy'," the official said.
The new policy will exist for the next five years from 2018 to 2023, he added.
There were 136 societies and mills in Maharashtra thathad sought funds in the form of a share capital, out of which 66 are running, while some others are under installation whereas few of them are into liquidation and three already shut down.
To encourage cooperative mills, the state government's textile department funds cooperative cotton mills 45 percent of share capital, while 50 per cent is required to be raised in the open market whereas remaining 5 per cent is borne by the mill board.
In the case of mills run by Scheduled Caste (SC) members, the state textile department will provide fund of 45 per cent of share capital, 50 per cent by the social justice department while the rest 5 per cent will be raised by the mill board.
"There were no options available before loss making or under liquidation powerloom societies or cooperative mills for their revival. Now, they will have an option by changing the use of land provided following the rules under one-time exit policy," the Textile department official said.
The policy is aimed at generating 10 lakh new employments in the next five years and doubling the farmers' income by 2022. It is also expected to attract investments worth Rs 36,000 crore, the official said.
The policy will also provide many benefits including competitive power tariffs and increased capital subsidy for SC/ST and minority categories.
The policy lays a special focus on strengthening the knitting, garmenting and hosiery sector, which will create ample employment opportunities for women, he said.
"This will prove to be an important step forward towards women empowerment and development of women entrepreneurs," the official added.
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