Plan to promote Chamarajanagar as knitwear hub gets concrete shape

Plans to market and promote Chamarajanagar district as a knitwear hub is gaining traction as a few major players have evinced interest in investing in the region.

It is the district’s proximity to Tirupur – the knitwear capital of India – which is one of the factors driving the decision apart from the low overhead costs entailed given the availability of both land and labour in the district.

Though the concept was announced more than an year ago, it was put in the backburner due to the pandemic. However, with the graded unlocking and the imperatives of keeping the wheels of the economy turning, the authorities are fast tracking the concept.

Deputy Commissioner of Chamarajanagar M.R.Ravi said 200 acres of land has been reserved at Badanguppe-Kellambally industrial area – which is spread over 1,200 acres – for knitwear units. Besides, 144 sub-plots have been prepared to enable the MSME units to start functioning. It is reserved for SC/STs and in a recent single window meeting, 42 units were accorded clearance.

The district aims to encourage start-ups and entrepreneurs to start units to manufacture knitwear for which there is tremendous demand. This is different from textiles and garments and knitwear pertains to readymade garments such as t-shirts, sweaters, inner-wears. etc for which there is a huge demand, said Mr.Ravi.

He said Chamarajanagar is very close to Coimbatore and Tirupur in Tamil Nadu and this can be harnessed to procure raw material from there and produce knitwear products. The objective is to help develop Chamarajanagar as the knitwear hub of Karnataka, he added.

Perceived to be low-skilled in nature, officials are confident that there will be no scarcity of labour in Chamarajanagar and will help arrest migration of workers to other places in search of work. “We intend to develop and promote Hanur as one of the hubs as it is economically backward’’, according to Mr. Ravi. There are already 9 skill development centres located at Chamarajanagar, Yelandur, Kollegal, Hanur and Gundlupet and this can be stepped up to meet future requirements.

The areas where readymade garment units and knitwear units can be established have been identified and they include Santhemarahalli, Badanguppe, Harve, Hanur, Ramapura, Lokkanahalli, and Bandalli.

Chamarajanagar’s proximity to Tirupur apart, it is also closer to other cotton cultivating areas in the region including H.D.Kote and Nanjangud. As the labour requirement is semi-skilled in nature there will be no dearth of workers or even raw materials given the connectivity to Tamil Nadu, according to officials.

The apparel sector has been identified as a sunrise sector with a huge global market and there was scope to empower women who mostly tend to work in garment units. ‘’With an investment of ₹50 crore, as many as 1000 jobs can be created and we are looking at 4 to 5 such units straightaway which can help create at least 4000 to 5000 jobs in the near future,’’ said Mr. Ravi. This can have a chain reaction and generate ancillary jobs which will give a stimulus to the local economy, he added.