Bolangir: The proposed textile park in Bolangir district remains stuck at the announcement stage, more than six months after Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi made a declaration on its establishment at the Odisha Textile Conclave 2025.
The announcement had raised hopes for the establishment of an employment-oriented textile and apparel cluster in the migration-prone and industrially backward district like Bolangir. However, with no visible progress so far, discussions have begun over the status of the proposed project.
More than 90 per cent of Odisha’s total cotton production comes from Bolangir, Kalahandi, Rayagada and Nuapada districts. When production from Boudh, Bargarh and Subarnapur is included, the figure rises to over 97 per cent. Cotton is cultivated on 70,998 hectares in Bolangir, 71,407 hectares in Kalahandi, 49,473 hectares in Rayagada, 19,550 hectares in Nuapada, 7,285 hectares in Boudh, 5,825 hectares in Bargarh and 5,553 hectares in Subarnapur.
The cotton produced in these regions is considered to be of high quality and has demand at both national and international levels. In addition, nearly 90 per cent of Odisha’s ginning mills are located in Bolangir, Kalahandi, Rayagada, Bargarh, Nuapada and Subarnapur districts, further strengthening the case for establishing a textile and apparel cluster in the region. The region has adequate human resources, along with ample land, power supply and transportation facilities.
Despite sufficient infrastructure, not a single textile park, weaving cluster, techno park or apparel park has been established in the area so far. At the Odisha Textile Conclave 2025, it was announced that 33 memorandums of understanding worth Rs 7,800 crore had been signed. The government said the objective was to create employment opportunities through textile parks and apparel units.
During the conclave, the chief minister had inaugurated two textile and footwear parks in Jagatsinghpur and Bhadrak districts. Multiple textile and apparel units have already been set up in Khordha and Cuttack districts. During a visit to Sonepur February 1, the CM said a textile park would be established in Bolangir, but did not specify a timeline.
He also laid the foundation stone for a Rs 100 crore textile park in Keonjhar district February 14. Every year, hundreds of thousands of workers from Bolangir, Kalahandi, Nuapada, Bargarh, Subarnapur and Boudh districts migrate outside the state in search of jobs. Economically, the region remains underdeveloped. Despite the availability of cotton, adequate infrastructure and skilled manpower, the delay in setting up employment-oriented textile clusters in the region remains unexplained.
Questions are being raised over why the government appears more proactive in establishing textile parks and apparel units in economically prosperous areas where cotton is not produced, while showing less urgency in western Odisha, which is rich in resources but economically backward. Discontent is growing over the delay in setting up the textile project in Bolangir. The district is represented by the Deputy Chief Minister, the state Health Minister and legislators from both ruling and opposition parties. Their stand on the delay has now become a subject of discussion.