The textile industry on Monday welcomed the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Seetharaman, particularly the announcement on textile and apparel parks.
In a statement here, the Indian Texpreneurs Federation (ITF) appreciated the thrust given to the textile sector by proposing the seven mega integrated textile region and apparel parks (MITRA). With the concept of the parks with a plug-and-play model, the textile and apparel sector, particularly the SMEs (small and medium enterprises), can build competitiveness in manufacturing, ITF convenor Prabhu Dhamodharan said in the statement.
Further, the parks can be aligned with environmental, social and governance goals to attract international buyers as well as investors, he said. Also lauded was the mention of a three-year period to capitalise the opportunities emerging from China and Tamil Nadu with a robust manufacturing eco system, he said. Welcoming the budget, president of Tirupur Exporters Association Raja M Shanmugham termed it as a pragmatic one presented to address all issues in the sectors. While appreciating the parks scheme, he said as expected, this would create global champions in exports and was hopeful that Tirupur exporters would opt to set up the units in the parks.
He thanked the government for allotting Rs 700 crore for the Amended Technology Upgradation Scheme (ATUFs) against Rs 545 crore in the last budget which, he said, would help clear the pending capital subsidy. Also, he appreciated the allocation of Rs 30 crore for export promotion studies against Rs 5 crore in the last Budget, a requirement of the industry to know the export potential of specified products in the unexplored markets. Raja Shanmugham expressed happiness over the allocation of Rs 100 crore for the integrated scheme for skill development.
On rationalisation of duties on raw material for man-made textiles, Dhamodharan and Raja Shanmugham welcomed the reduction of the basic customs duty on nylon chips, nylon fibre and yarn. Shanmugam was thankful for allowing new tax exemption for the notified affordable rental housing projects, which was requested by the association in the pre-Budget memorandum to support migrant workers. He was all-praise for allowing women to work on night shifts with adequate protection. The Southern India Mills Association (SIMA) wanted the Prime Minister to withdraw the levy of 10 per cent import duty on cotton and cotton waste to sustain global competition. The duty would not benefit the cotton farmers as the normal import of 12 to 14 lakh bales per year accounts only around 3 per cent of the cotton production in the country.
After the introduction of BT cotton that accounts over 97 per cent of the cotton produced in the country, the cotton textile industry has to import organic cotton, contamination- free cotton to the tune of 10 to 12 lakh bales per year to meet the demands of the global customers, the association said. SIMA chairman Ashwin Chandran said the country was already flooded with cheaper imports of readymade clothes from SAFTA (South Asian Free Trade Area) countries and was facing a crisis.
He said the government had withdrawn the import duty on cotton in July 2008 consequent to the recession in the industry. The chairman further said when the duty was in force, multinationals used to cover major volume of cotton and export and the industry had to import cotton at a higher price. This affected foreign exchange, therefore the Prime Minister has to take steps to withdraw the 5 per cent BCD (basic customs duty) and 5 per cent agriculture infrastructure and development cess (AIDC) and also 10 per cent BCD on cotton waste crisis.
Published On : 01-02-2021
Source : Outlook India
