Gujarat Textile Policy: Assistance for Quality Certification

The Industries and Mines Department, Gujarat, operates the Gujarat Textile Policy, an umbrella scheme intended to draw in investment and reinforce the textile value chain across every sub-sector. Garments and apparel, along with technical textiles, receive particular attention. The policy runs from 1 October 2024 to 29 September 2029 and is structured to lower the sector's carbon footprint, encourage green growth, sharpen global competitiveness and support environmental sustainability.

Under the policy, the Assistance for Quality Certification component extends financial support to industrial units. It covers expenditure incurred in securing recognised national and international quality certifications — BIS, ISI, WHO-GMP and Hallmark among them — which are necessary for market access and quality assurance.

The component also meets the cost of procuring testing equipment and machinery, and bears their calibration charges, so that units are able to sustain high-quality production standards.

Applications are made offline and proceed through two stages.

- **Registration application:** - **Step 1:** File the application in the prescribed format with the Industries Commissioner. The application and every supporting document must reach the office within one year counted from the later of these events: the date the loan was disbursed, the start of production, or the policy operative date. - **Step 2:** Once the application is received, the Industrial Commissioner's office scrutinises and verifies all relevant documents in line with the established procedure. A registration certificate is issued on approval.

- **Application for Provisional/Final Eligibility Certificate:** - **MSME units with GFCI up to INR 10 Crore:** After the Date of Commercial Production (DoCP), the industrial unit must apply to the General Manager, District Industries Center. - **MSME units with GFCI above INR 10 Crore and up to 50 Crore:** After DoCP, the industrial unit must apply to the MSME Commissioner for a Provisional Eligibility Certificate. The application is due within one year from DoCP or within one year from the date the Government Resolution (GR) was issued, whichever falls later. - **Units other than MSME units:** After DoCP, industrial units that have completed registration must apply to the Industries Commissioner for a Provisional Eligibility Certificate. Here too, the deadline is one year from DoCP or one year from the date the registration certificate was issued, whichever falls later.

Applications for registration are first examined by the Industries Commissionerate, which scrutinises and verifies the supporting documents to confirm that prescribed procedures have been followed. After registration, the route an application for a Provisional or Final Eligibility Certificate takes depends on how the unit is classified — MSMEs, by GFCI band, or other industrial units.

The relevant authority then takes up the scrutiny: the General Manager of the District Industries Center, the MSME Commissioner, or the Industries Commissioner, as applicable. Assessment centres on whether the unit has actually spent money on recognised quality certifications and testing equipment, and on whether the papers submitted are complete and in order. Only then is the eligibility certificate issued and reimbursement taken forward.