Surat: There is some good news for the country's largest man-made fabric (MMF) industry. Minister of state for textiles Ajay Tamta said the Ministry of Textiles is working positively on the proposals submitted by Southern Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SGCCI) on establishing a 'centre of excellence' and a mega textile park at Pinjrat near Olpad."Surat is the MMF hub and that the Ministry of Textiles is seriously thinking of providing a Centre of Excellence and supporting the proposal for establishing a mega textile park at Pinjrat," Ajay Tamta told TOI at SITEX here on Saturday.The SGCCI has sent a proposal to the Ministry of Textiles for establishing a Centre of Excellence for research and development of the MMF fabrics. The Centre for Excellence will allow the MMF sector to manufacture different varieties of fabrics having huge potential in international and domestic market.On the other hand, the SGCCI has already proposed the setting up of mega textile park at Pinjrat near Olpad. For this, the chamber has submitted a proposal to the state government for allocating around 80 lakh square meter of land for setting up state-of-the-art textile processing units.Tamta said, "The ministry has started a project to develop raw linen on agricultural land with the help of scientists and experts from the textile and agricultural research institutes. The raw linen is produced in European countries and India imports linen from Belgium. Once we will start reaping the crops, India will have its own raw material for manufacturing linen cloths. This could be implemented in Surat as well."SGCCI president BS Agarwal said, "MOS textiles is committed to assist Surat's textile industry in all possible manner. During his maiden visit, he has agreed to provide a Centre for Excellence and also a mega textile park in Surat. This has come as a good news for the entire textile sector."

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