An apparel and garment making centre is coming up at Arunachal Pradesh. This is part of a plan to have apparel and garment making centres in all Northeastern states. Work on such a centre has begun at Nagaland, Manipur and Sikkim.

Each apparel and garment making centre set up under the initiative is estimated to generate direct employment for 1,200 people. Each state will have a centre with three units, each having 100 machines. For local entrepreneurs with the requisite background, required facilities to start a unit will be provided in the plug and play mode. Once such entrepreneurs get established, they can set up their own units, allowing the facility to be provided to new entrepreneurs.

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 and garments. The scheme has a total outlay of Rs 1038 crores in the 12th Five Year Plan.

The project is beginning in the direction of setting up an organized textile industry in the north east. The estimated expense is Rs 18.18 crores for each state. Central assistance would be towards construction of physical infrastructure, purchase of machinery and capacity building for the next three years.