The state government of Maharashtra has issued a new textile policy in a bid to make the state’s textile industry more profitable in the coming years. The new textile policy will be applicable from the year 2018 up to 2023.
In the new policy, the government has focused on the utilization of renewable sources of energy to cut down the overall costs and has also provided consumers with energy subsidies.
Key highlights of the new policy:
- Special incentives will be given to textile projects implementing environment-friendly solar and wind energy projects.
- If spinning mills, power looms and textile projects are ready to set up green energy projects then the state government, in collaboration with Maharashtra Energy Development Agency (MEDA), will formulate a program for providing the appropriate subsidy to reduce the overall power subsidy.
- The state government’s energy department will not levy charges other than transmission charges on projects using non-conventional sources of energy.
- The restriction of 1 MW is removed from the net metering program.
- A subsidy of ₹3/kWh will be given to co-operative spinning mills for a period of three years. Within this period, the units will set up non-conventional power projects to fulfill their power needs. This subsidy is not available to open access projects.
The removal of the upper limit of 1 MW for net-metered projects is a welcome move for the growth of the rooftop solar sector in the state. The policy will help in the development of small-scale renewable energy projects in Maharashtra.