'Lack of FTAs costs India 55 lakh textile sector jobs'

05 Jul '16

4 min read

He requested the government to support the textile sector as a whole and in particular, value added product such as home textiles to achieve growth in exports as well as create more direct jobs in the sector.

M Ramaswamy, immediate past Chairman of the Council,said the textile industry was the most labour intensive in the manufacturing sector and despite the industry meeting all the objectives of the visionary programmes of the government, it was unable to occupy the mind space of the policy makers.

“It was with this background that Texprocil assigned the study to an international accredited research company so that the results would show that the textile industry with its low cost of operation could create a huge social impact,” he said.

Textiles Commissioner Kavita Gupta, in her speech said that all schemes and policies are drafted keeping the interests of the industry in mind. She also said that the Prime Minister wants to give priority to the textile sector and hence the special package was extended to the apparel industry.

Textiles Secretary Rashmi Verma who was the Chief Guest at the function said the study report was released at a very appropriate time considering that all schemes and proposals which are placed before the Ministry and Cabinet have emphasis on job creation.

She also detailed the specifics of the package given to the apparel sector saying that the garmenting industry worked on very low margins and hence needed a buffer while competing with countries like China, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Cambodia who enjoyed a zero duty advantage in most of the markets that India exports to.

On FTAs, she said that the government has already started the process of reviewing the existing FTAs and is also seriously negotiating the FTAs with EU, Australia and Canada. (SH)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India

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