Textile mills in the Coimbatore region want made-ups and home textiles to be included under the special package announced recently for garments. A Rs 6000 crores special package has been approved for the garment sector, which is aimed at creating one crores of new jobs, attracting Rs 74,000 crores in new investments and achieving a cumulative increase of $30 billion in foreign exchange in the next three years.

Mill owners say made-ups and home textiles constitute very high end products and exports to all major markets, especially the European Union and the US. Indian exports of made-ups and home furnishings have been facing a severe challenge from Pakistan, which enjoys duty free access to the EU and a few other markets. So this segment could not achieve the potential growth rate as the products attract equal tariff on a par with garments in most major international textile markets.

Also made-ups and home textile manufacturers pay much higher conversion charges for the fabric when compared to garment manufacturers. And since processes required for made-ups and home textile fabric manufacturing are capital intensive, only limited manufacturing facilities are available.

Home textiles and made-up units are specialised in manufacturing fabrics and fabric related products like pillow covers, gloves, bed spreads etc.