Aptma had also urged the government to withdraw the import duty on cotton about two months ago, the association’s spokesperson said in a statement. The government had denied withdrawing it around that time as it wanted to wait until a major portion of the crop was sold.

The spokesperson added that the local crop will not be meeting the textile industry’s requirements and action needs to be taken in time so that exports are not affected. The industry cannot bear the additional burden of import duty and compete against countries in the export market.

The textile exports in the country have been declining and 80 to 82 per cent of the crop produced in the country has already been used by the industry. It is misleading to say that ginners have sufficient cotton stocks to fulfill the industry’s needs, stated the spokesperson. (KD)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India