New Delhi, Apr 14 (IANS): The Centre has selected 61 applicants under Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for the textiles sector.

According to Union Textiles Secretary U.P. Singh, 61 applications were approved with Rs 19,077 crore expected as the total investment and a projected turnover of Rs 184,917 crore over a period of 5 years with a proposed direct employment of 240,134.

In all, a total of 67 applications were received, out of which 15 applications are under part 1 of the scheme and 52 applications are under part 2. The scheme has two parts - part-1, where minimum investment is Rs 300 crore and minimum turnover required to be achieved for incentive is Rs 600 crore, and part 2, where minimum investment is of Rs 100 crore and minimum turnover required to be achieved for incentive is Rs 200 crore.

Earlier, the Centre had approved the PLI scheme for textiles products, namely MMF Apparel, MMF Fabrics and Products of Technical Textiles, for enhancing India's manufacturing capabilities and enhancing exports with an approved financial outlay of Rs 10,683 crore over a five-year period.

In addition, to further boost the growth of the sector, Centre has removed the import duty on cotton.