India’s finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s announcement about Extra Long Staple (ELS) cotton (staple length 34.9 mm and more) in Union Budget 2023-24 will provide the much-needed relief to the domestic industry. Local availability will decrease Indian textile industry’s dependence on ELS cotton import from Egypt, Australia and few other countries.

The minister said in her Budget speech that the government will adopt a cluster-based and value chain approach through public-private partnerships (PPP) to enhance the productivity of ELS cotton.

Vinay Thadani, CEO, Vishal Fabrics Ltd told Fibre2Fashion, “The government’s decision to adopt special approach to increase cotton productivity will boost Indian cotton market. With farmers, state and industry collaborating for input supplies, extension services and market linkages, we are expecting to see a jump in cotton production as well as export.”

He said that the Credit Guarantee Scheme announced for MSMEs with the infusion of ₹9,000 crore to corpus and reduction in cost of credit by 1 per cent will further strengthen and accelerate MSME sector’s growth. With 33 per cent increase in the capital expenditure (capex) amounting to ₹10 lakh crore, this growth centric Budget nurtures the framework of ‘India@100’. Focused on inclusive development, the Budget emphasises on infrastructure, agricultural, finance, investment, green energy and job creation, he said.

Navin Rao, Co-founder of apparel manufacturer The Kaftan Company said, “The overall Budget this year has been presented with much optimism and growth-related initiatives. As an entrepreneur, I am happy to see a few key benefits supporting MSME enterprises such as ours, including a ‘Skills India’ digital platform to help the MSME sector with further growth. Income Tax related benefits for start-ups that can further innovative and future solutions for the country as well as the simplification of processes with the introduction of centralization of IDs for businesses as unique identifiers are also welcome steps.

“As an apparel manufacturer, I am especially pleased to see assistance packages introduced for traditional artisans and craftspeople. They are an integral part of the MSME value chain and must be supported with this initiative. I believe that with this initiative, the quality, scale and reach of products made by these skilled workers will reach new heights.”

Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, Retailers Association of India (RAI) said, “The Budget has a thrust on infrastructure development, digitisation, skilling, and ease of doing business, which is positive for retail businesses. The DESH STACK e-portal for skilling will benefit labour-intensive sectors like retail that need large skilled and semi-skilled workforce with quick onboarding.

“The emphasis on ‘Ease of Doing Business 2.0’ should bring a better policy and regulatory environment for retail; on this front, work on a national retail policy is already underway. The government has reworked the income tax slabs in the new tax regime to give a push for income tax relief. This will support consumption.”

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KUL)

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