The Tirupur garments cluster has caught the attention of states such as Telangana and Odisha, which now plan to replicate some of the successes in their own state. Officials from Odisha textile handloom industries department recently visited Tirupur to have first-hand information and the cluster’s operations over the years.

The Odisha government, which came out with a dedicated apparel policy early this year, has not only sought the help of Tirupur Exporters’ Association (TEA) in drawing up its strategy but also in setting up training and skill development institutes. Recently, the Odisha government had set up an apparel park near Bhubaneshwar and plans to have two more such parks in the state. On the other hand, Telangana IT minister KT Rama Rao has taken a great deal of interest in creating such clusters in the state.

KT Rama Rao has met Union textiles minister Smriti Irani and sought her help in creating such clusters to capitalise on Telengana’s rich cotton crop cultivation. Cotton is the major commercial crop of Telengana and the state government has thrown in incentives under its textile policy to woo investments from garment units in Tirupur to set up similar units in the cotton-growing districts of Warangal, Karimnagar, Medak, Khammam.

Meanwhile officials of both the states have appealed to big garment units in Tirupur such as Dollar, Lux and Rupa to invest in their respective states.