Establish Committee for Solar Energy Use in Textile Sector: CM Devendra Fadnavis Directs

Review Meeting of Textile Department Held Under CM’s Chairmanship

Mumbai – Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has directed the formation of a joint committee comprising officials from the Textile and Energy Departments to address challenges in adopting solar energy in the textile industry. He also emphasized establishing uniform criteria for providing financial assistance to new cooperative spinning mills under the Departments of Social Justice, Tribal Development, and Other Backward Class Welfare.

Chairing a review meeting of the Textile Department at Varsha Bungalow, CM Fadnavis stressed that respective departments must make additional budgetary provisions for spinning mills under their purview.

The meeting was attended by Textile Minister Sanjay Sawkar, MLC Amrish Patel, Additional Chief Secretary of the Finance Department O.P. Gupta, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Ashwini Bhide, Principal Secretary of the Textile Department Anshu Sinha, Textile Commissioner Sanjay Daine, Director of the Sericulture Directorate Vinay Mun, and other senior officials.

CM Fadnavis said that while extending the interest subsidy scheme — which offers ₹5,000 per spindle — to cooperative spinning mills, modernization and grading should be integrated. He called for a detailed report on restarting closed mills under the National Textile Corporation (NTC) in Maharashtra and asked that a proposal based on this report be submitted to the central government.

He also instructed that necessary amendments be made to the Integrated and Sustainable Textile Policy 2023–28. Further, a policy should be formulated to recover outstanding government dues from cooperative spinning and powerloom societies. The state should also complete the registration of all powerloom units.

Regarding the Sericulture Directorate building in Pune currently under use, CM Fadnavis directed that a no-objection certificate (NOC) be obtained from the Maharashtra State Khadi and Village Industries Board for renovations and facility upgrades.

Key topics reviewed during the meeting included:

• Establishing a New Maharashtra State Textile Development Corporation
• Merging the Textile and Sericulture Directorates into one unified body
• Allowing cooperative spinning mills to sell surplus land
• Introducing new schemes for rehabilitation loans and leasing mills
• Revising the cost estimate of cooperative spinning mill projects from ₹80.90 crore to ₹118 crore
• Acquiring leased land from the Red Cross Society in Wai (Satara district) for a permanent district sericulture office

These initiatives aim to strengthen and modernize Maharashtra’s textile ecosystem with a sustainable, policy-driven approach.