Union Textile Minister Shankersinh Vaghela announced this in Ahmedabad on Saturday.

These parks are expected to attract an investment of over Rs 3,000 crore, generating employment for 98,000 people and producing

goods worth Rs 6,597 crore annually.

On measures to improve the employability of local youths, the minister informed about setting up of the Apparel Training and Design Centre (ATDC) at Godhra, which is aimed to provide training to 600 apprentices.

The government is also to set up a state-of-the-art green field spinning and weaving unit at Rajnagar Textiles Mill No.2 of National Textiles Limited (NTC) at Ahmedabad, with an estimated cost of Rs 149 crore.

The Rajnagar Textiles Mill No.1 of NTC is also being modernised through a joint venture route at a cost of Rs 100 crore.

Vaghela said the minimum support price of cotton was also raised between 39 and 48 per cent during the cotton season of 2008-09.

“We have procured nearly 72 lakh cotton bales at an estimated cost of Rs 10,000 crore, including 8.7 lakh bales from Gujarat at an estimated cost of Rs 1,200 crore,” he said.

The minister further said that of the 300 procurement centres in the country, 58 are in 13 districts of Gujarat.

He said the UPA government has imparted momentum to the Textiles Workers Rehabilitation Fund Scheme (TWRFS) to protect the interest of workers of closed private textiles mills.