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India's QCO rollback boosts textile competitiveness, aids trade talks

However, during negotiations with the United States, the European Union and several other developed economies, these very QCOs were repeatedly flagged as opaque non-tariff barriers, complicating market access and slowing progress on key FTAs. When major trade partners made it clear that India’s expanding QCO regime was not aligned with global norms and posed compliance concerns under the WTO’s Technical Barriers to Trade framework, the long-pending course correction finally gained urgency, as industry insiders hinted about sudden policy shift of the Indian government.

The recent withdrawal of QCOs for essential textile raw materials—covering PTA, MEG, PSF, PFY, FDY, POY and several technical polymers—has opened the door for full value addition in India’s MMF and textile ecosystem. Manufacturers across weaving, knitting, processing, technical textiles and garmenting say the rollback has restored access to globally benchmarked inputs at competitive prices, reversing the cost escalation that had eroded export competitiveness. Industry representatives note that the move has already begun easing supply bottlenecks, narrowing the gap between domestic and global prices and encouraging companies to revive deferred expansion plans.