The Central and State governments should support the textile industry, which is passing through a crisis, with measures to improve the sector’s competitiveness, said K.V. Srinivasan, chairman of Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council (Texprocil) and South India Textile Research Association.

Mr. Srinivasan inaugurated Texfair 2019 and Farm to Finish Expo 2019, a four-day exhibition of textile machinery and spares, organised by Southern India Mills’ Association at CODISSIA Trade Fair Compex.

He said factors such as poor demand in the export and domestic markets, lack of skilled labour, and high raw material cost were all affecting the textile units. Exports of yarn, fabric, and made ups grew over 50 % from 2008 to 2018.

However, in 2019, the yarn exports saw a steep decline. Cotton yarn exports in June this year is the lowest in the last five years. China is the main market for yarn exports. However, it gave duty free access to Pakistan in April this year and Bangladesh and Vietnam already have duty free access. “In a falling market, tariff difference of 4 % is significant. It is important to sustain competitiveness of the textile industry as it is generates employment in large numbers.”

So, the Central and State governments should support it. The Union Government should refund taxes and duties paid for export of all textile products. The interest rates need to be competitive. Hence, the government should re-introduce the interest subvention scheme. The State Government should have pro-active schemes to train labour. Another important factor for the industry is energy. The textile units have invested in wind energy in Tamil Nadu, initially because the State government encouraged it. The government should now support wind energy generation, he said.

Jugal Kishore Pansari, president of Indian Textile Accessories and Machinery Manufacturers’ Association, said there is a general perception that the textile industry is going through a slow pace.

However, import of textile machinery and spares are on the rise. The ITAMA members are focusing on production concepts such as 5S, lean manufacturing, and energy audits. The textile engineering units have a huge potential to tap in the country.

According to Ajay D. Shah, president of Textile Machinery and Mill Stores Merchants Association, the textile industry is going through a phase of modernisation and the textile machinery manufacturers and mill stores merchants have the capacity to manufacture and supply parts that will serve as import substitutes.

P. Nataraj, chairman of Southern India Mills’ Association, said Tamil Nadu accounts for 45 % of the spinning capacity in the country. The textile industry needs to upgrade technology constantly and concentrate on value addition.

The Texfair and Farm to Finish Expo have 250 exhibitors displaying products in 320 stalls. The event is expected to attract one lakh visitors. The participants are from Coimbatore, other parts of Tamil Nadu, States such as Punjab, Maharashtra, and Gujarat and also countries such as China and Slovakia.

Published On : 09-08-2019

Source : The Hindu