New Delhi: Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCIS) data shows a 2 per cent increase in the export of apparel in the sector of textile in five years.
The export increased from Rs 102,943 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 112,701 crore in 2018-19, the textile minister Smriti Irani mentioned in a written reply in Lok Sabha on Friday.
Aiming to overcome the hurdles and enhancing the exports, some garments units have been set up in Ethiopia due to zero duty access for Ethiopian exports in US and EU markets and due to incentives being offered for investments there. Further, Special Package was announced for garments and made-ups which offers rebates of State Levies (RoSL). Reforms in the labour laws have been done.
The relaxation of Section 80JJAA of the Income Tax Act and many significant moves has also been initiated, said by the minister. The official reply emphasized on the new Scheme for Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies (RoSCTL), which was announced on March 7 of this year. The rates under Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) were enhanced from 2 per cent to 4 per cent. Even the assistance is also provided to exporters under the Market Access Initiative (MAI) Scheme. Besides, the Indian government has enhanced interest equalization rate for pre and post-shipment credit for exports by MSMEs of the textile sector from 3 per cent to 5 per cent in November 2018.
Further, the Benefits of Interest Equalization Scheme, which was earlier limited to only manufacturer exporters, now has been extended to merchant exporters from February 2019. In dollar terms, garment exports have been valued around 16 to 17 billion $now. Though India faces competition in the manufacturing cost from neighbouring countries, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, but enjoys the duty-free access in the major countries, Irani said.
Meanwhile, Irani also said that India is the second largest producer of silk in the world and the total raw silk production in the country increased by 10.52 per cent during 2018-19 over the previous year. Irani said among the four varieties of silk produced in 2018-19, Mulberry accounts for 71.50 per cent (25,213 MT), Tussar 8.44 per cent (2,977 MT), Eri 19.40 per cent (6,839 MT) and Muga 0.66 per cent (232 MT) of the provisional total raw silk production of 35,261 MT. "The total raw silk production in the country increased by 10.52 per cent (35,261 Metric Tonne (MT)) during 2018-19 over the previous year 2017-18 (31,906 MT)," she said during Question Hour.
The minister said the Central Silk Board (CSB), a statutory body under the Ministry of Textiles is encouraging production and export of silk. To benefit farmers engaged in sericulture, CSB is implementing a restructured Central Sector Scheme 'Silk Samagra', which mainly focuses on improving quality and productivity of domestic silk thereby reducing the country's dependence on imported silk. Under the scheme, assistance is extended to sericulture stakeholders for the beneficiary oriented components like, raising of Kissan Nursery, Plantation with improved Mulberry varieties, Irrigation, Chawki Rearing Centres with incubation facility, construction of rearing houses besides others, she said.
Published On : 19-07-2019
Source : Millennium Post
