Cluster Management and Technical Agency (CMTA) will be appointed to develop Surat as powerloom mega cluster under 'comprehensive powerloom cluster development scheme (CPCDS) for which expression of interest (EOIs) have been invited by the Union textile ministry.

CMTA's role will be to identify the overall objectives of mega cluster scheme in the detailed conceptual report (DCR), diagnostic study report and detailed project report (DPR) with justification and supporting data.

The scheme has been commissioned to scale up the infrastructure facilities and production chain at traditional textiles cluster in Surat, which has remained unorganized and has not kept pace with the modernization and development that have been taking place so far.

The mega cluster, which is included in the 12{+t}{+h} Five-Year Plan, will be developed with the Government of India's share of Rs 50 crore in the time frame of four years.

Surat's MMF industry has an installed capacity of about 6.5 lakh powerloom machines weaving about 9,000 million metres of man-made fabrics per annum - contributing 40 per cent of man-made fabric demand - worth Rs 34,000 crore per annum.

The powerloom sector consumes about 6 lakh metric tonnes of different types of yarn including polyester filament yarn, viscose filament yarn, nylon filament yarn and blended yarn, etc.

The main objective of setting up the mega cluster in Surat is to assist the entrepreneurs in the textile SME sector to set up world-class units with modern infrastructure, latest technology, adequate training and human resource development (HRD) inputs along with appropriate market linkages.