Only 26 of 98 textile parks sanctioned by govt since 2005 completed, all targets unmet: CAG report

These parks managed only 30% of targeted employment generation & half of projected investments. Major reasons for poor show were delays in statutory clearances, & land allotment issues.

Representational image of textile factory | Commons

New Delhi: Of the 98 integrated textile parks sanctioned by the government since 2005, only 26 have been completed, with 30 parks still under construction and 42 having been cancelled, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has found.

A CAG report tabled in Parliament Monday, disclosed that the government released grants totalling Rs 1,593 crore for these 98 parks. It pointed out that the parks — envisaged to be attractive destinations for investment and job creation — have fallen well short of all of their targets.

“Out of the 98 sanctioned parks, only 26 parks (26.53 per cent) had been considered as ‘completed’ as of February 2022,” it said. “Of the remaining 72, 30 parks (30.61 per cent) were ongoing while 42 parks (42.86 per cent) had been cancelled.”

Of the Rs 1,593 crore released, Rs 688.03 crore were released for parks that still haven’t been completed or that were outright cancelled.

“During the 10th Plan period (2005-07), it was envisaged to complete 25 parks in around 18 months,” the report said. “The scheduled time for completion for parks sanctioned during the 11th Plan period (2007-12) was kept as 24 months from the first release of grants by the Government of India. Further, during the 12th Plan period (2012-17), the completion period for the parks was estimated to be three years.”

Of the 30 parks where work is ongoing, five were commissioned between 2005 and 2007, which means they are at least 25 years past their deadlines. Ten of the currently-ongoing projects were sanctioned during the 11th Plan, putting them about nine years past their deadlines. By this calculation, the 15 ongoing projects sanctioned in the 12th Plan are at least three years overdue.

The CAG said that the major reasons for delay in completion of parks were delays in obtaining statutory clearances, issues related to land allotment for the parks and the weak financial strength of the Special Purpose Vehicles created for the parks.

As a result of the delays and the cancellations of projects, the various targets set for the projects in terms of employment generation, investments and the setting up of textile units all remained unmet by a substantial degree.

“There was a huge shortfall in achievement of targets by the parks sanctioned under the Scheme,” the CAG said. “Even after a lapse of 16 years from the inception of the Scheme, the actual achievement of the 56 completed/ongoing parks (audited by the CAG) was 30 per cent in terms of employment generation, 50 per cent in terms of investments and 37 per cent in terms of setting-up of textile units, as against the targets set in the detailed project reports of the parks,” it pointed out.

(Edited by Geethalakshmi Ramanathan)