An Apparel and Garment Making Centre will come up at Agartala, the foundation stone of which was laid by textile minister, Santosh Kumar Gangwar, and Tripura chief minister, Manik Sarkar yesterday. A Rs. 3.41 crore Silk Processing and Printing unit was also inaugurated on the occasion, by them.
The units are expected to provide employment to a large number of people in the state and would lead the large scale production and processing of garments in the region. The project contributes to the “Make in India” programme in textile sector, with particular emphasis on the North Eastern States.
The Centre is being set up as part of an initiative announced by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Nagaland, on December one. The Prime Minister had announced that an Apparel and Garment Making Centre will be constructed in all North Eastern states. Work on such of a Centre for Nagaland has already begun after the foundation stone was laid by Gangwar on February 24. The minister also laid the foundation for such a Centre in Manipur on March 24, in Sikkim on March 25, in Arunachal Pradesh on April 16 and in Assam on May 19. 
State’s minister of industries & commerce, Tapan Chakraborty, textile secretary, Sanjay Kumar Panda, the state’s chief secretary, Y. P. Singh, among others, were present at the event.
Each Centre set up under the initiative is estimated to generate direct employment for 1,200 people. For local entrepreneurs with requisite background, required facilities to start a unit will be provided in ‘plug and play’ mode. Once such entrepreneurs get established, they can set up their own units. The project will be fully funded by the ministry of textiles, with an estimated expense of Rs. 18.18 crore for each state. The initiative comes under the North East Region Textile Promotion Scheme (NERTPS) of the ministry of textiles. NERTPS is an umbrella scheme for the development of various segments of textiles, i.e. silk, handlooms, handicrafts and apparels & garments. The scheme has a total outlay of Rs. 1038.10 crore in the 12th Five Year Plan.
