After dropping a textile park project in the Mattewara forest following opposition, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has offered 1,000-acre land in Fatehgarh Sahib district for a park to be constructed under the Centre’s Prime Minister Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel Parks (PM Mitra) scheme.

The chief minister wrote to Union Textile Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday that once commissioned, the project would help the state emerge as a textile hub of the country and put it on a high growth trajectory. Besides attracting investments, it would also generate jobs.

Mann proposed the land in Fatehgarh Sahib for setting up one of the seven textiles parks envisioned across the country under the PM Mitra scheme. The basic requirement for the project to be executed in partnership with state governments is the availability of contiguous and encumbrance-free land parcels of 1,000 acres.

All environmental norms as fixed by the Centre and the State Pollution Control Board will be adhered to while setting up the mega park, the chief minister added.

The government has come up with an alternative site for the textile park after the project for Mattewara had to be abandoned because of opposition from environmental activists. It was felt that the state should not let go of the important project, the chief minister wrote.

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