Ahmedabad: Gujarat, the erstwhile textile capital of India, might see a comeback of the good, old days.

Union Textiles Minister Kashiram Rana says Gujarat will soon have a centre of the Rs 10-crore Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Institute of Textile Technology, which will be headquartered in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.

The textile centre is likely to come up either in Surat or Ahmedabad. The main institute is expected to be ready by April 2003. ''The necessary approvals from the Planning Commission and the union cabinet are expected in the next three to four months,'' says Rana.

Alongside, the longstanding demand of the state to have an apparel park is also going to be met soon. The construction of the park, which will be located in Surat, is expected to kick off by December 2002. The land for this purpose has already been earmarked.

''It will take at least a year for the park to be set up after the work commences,'' says Rana. But the state government has not yet decided whether the park will be a private sector venture or a joint sector effort. Apart from Surat, apparel parks will also be set up in eight other textile centres across India.