Agartala, Oct 30 (IANS): Northeastern India's first textile park will be set up in Tripura, a minister said here Sunday.

"The proposed park in Tripura is part of the 21 new textile parks to be set up under the Scheme for Integrated Textile Parks (SITP)," Tripura Industries and Commerce Minister Jitendra Chowdhury told IANS.

Quoting a letter from union Minister for Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma, who also heads the textiles ministry, Chowdhury said that the parks would be set up at a cost of Rs.2,100 crore in Maharashtra (six parks), Rajasthan (four), Tamil Nadu (two), Andhra Pradesh (two) and one each in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir and West Bengal.

These parks would be set up over a period of three years on a public-private-partnership basis.

"A special purpose vehicle (SPV) would be formed to execute the project. The SPV would chanelised funds and supervise other aspects of the ambitious project.

"The Tripura government would extend all out support for setting up of the park. It would create new opportunities in the industry-starved northeastern region," he said.