Continue policy of zero duty on cotton imports: ITF

08 Aug '19

2 min read

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Coimbatore-based Indian Texpreneurs Federation (ITF) recently wrote to textile minister Smriti Irani expressing its concern over a media report that said Maharashtra state is mulling over imposing import duty on cotton to control domestic prices. Such ‘anti-industry’ proposals can change the entire dynamics of the textile value chain, it said.

Pasha Patel, head of Maharashtra government’s committee for agriculture cost and pricing, recently told The Indian Express newspaper that as cheap imports and sluggish exports loom large over the domestic cotton market, an import duty on cotton could be explored to keep domestic prices steady.

The textile industry had received a severe setback in 2010-11 when policy changes created a turbulence in the spinning sector and more than ₹15,000 crore was eroded from the system. That was the beginning of stressed assets in spinning mills and many mills are yet to fully recover from that setback, ITF convenor Prabhu Damodharan wrote in the letter.

The Indian textile sector needs long-term and stable policies to face global competitors and due to the US- China trade war, a lot of opportunities are emerging, the letter said. India needs to make more value added products to capture the global market share and also to ensure job creation, it said.

ITF requested the textile minister to intervene at the earliest to stop any such anti-industry policy measure and continue with the policy of zero duty on cotton imports or exports. (DS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India

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