Gujarat government to further develop skills in the textile industry, another important industry in Surat after diamonds, is planning to set up a textile university in Surat which would help boost its textile sector.

Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel on Sunday at the foundation stone-laying ceremony of 2,000-acres Diamond Research and Mercantile (DREAM) City here announced the setting up a textiles university at the proposed smart city- DREAM City near Surat.

She asked textiles players to seek land in the proposed DREAM-city on the outskirts of the Surat city.

Notably, last year in July, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had announced a mega textile cluster in Surat besides others in Bareily, Lucknow, Kutch, Bhagalpur, Mysore and one in Tamil Nadu with a budgetary allocation of Rs 200 crore.

Surat is a hub for synthetic textiles especially sarees, dress materials and home textiles, which is supplied to the southern Indian markets besides exports. Market estimates put the industry turnover at about Rs 50,000 crore annually.

Surat textile industry which involves spinning, weaving, processing, garmenting and exports, provides employment for around 1.5 lakh people directly.