The Maharashtra government has extended the deadline by three months for textile operators to register their establishments on the online portal launched by the state textile commissionerate.

The original six-month deadline ended on 27th April. As of 15th April, only around 9,500 textile units  in Maharashtra, out of 55,000 total textile units had completed their registration because of low participation in the registration process. 

As registration is mandatory to avail the government’s power subsidy scheme and many textile operators could not complete registration by 26th April, the government had decided to extend the deadline by another three months. 

Industry representatives across the state had urged the government to simplify the online registration process. The revised form was made available on 7th April, leaving operators with barely 20 days before the initial deadline expired.

The textile sector receives substantial support from the state, with nearly 40% of its electricity consumption subsidised. Around Rs 1,800 crore (US $187 million) in power bills is waived annually.

Under the New Textile Policy scheme, which commenced on 19th February 2018 and ended on 31st December 2023, a subsidy of Rs 3 per unit was provided to cooperative spinning mills for three years. The 1 MW cap under the net metering scheme was also removed. The Rs 3 per unit subsidy was renewed annually and reduced, if necessary. 

Additionally, a subsidy of Rs 2 per unit was provided to powerloom units using more than 200 HP power. The subsidy applicable to units using less than 27 HP, 27–200 HP, and above 200 HP was also extended to garment, knitting, and hosiery units.

Further, a subsidy of Rs 2 per unit was provided to spinning mills, excluding processing units, cooperative spinning mills, and other textile units using more than 107 HP power.

The government also noted that electricity tariffs for units using up to 27 HP are currently higher than the applicable rates for units using between 27 HP and 107 HP. Necessary steps will be taken to eliminate this disparity.