SIMA urges govt to make cotton coastal transport viable

21 Feb '15

4 min read

The joint memorandum also appealed to the Ministry’s to provide duty free bunkers for Indian flag vessels for carrying cotton and textile products on Indian coasts and also resolve issues pertaining to restriction of number of moves in the ports.

In a press release, the SIMA chief said they supported the demand of INSA to remove such restrictions so that greater efficiencies are achieved at ports which can translate into better logistics services for the members of SIMA.

SIMA and INSA have jointly appealed to the Union Government to take a favourable decision to make cost effective transportation of cotton and textile goods possible among the States of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

SIMA chief has stressed that a right decision in this direction would make the “Make in India” programme of Prime Minister, Narendra Modi a reality, by making both the shipping and textile industries play a greater role.

The Tamil Nadu textile industry provides direct employment for over 5.0 million people and is alongside livelihood of several million cotton farmers, powerloom, handloom and garment sector workers, while the textile hub of Tirupur accounts for 70 per cent of total cotton knitted garments produced in India.

For the last four years, SIMA has been urging the Union Government directly and also through Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) and Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council (TEXPROCIL) to relax Cabotage rule and permit foreign flag vessels to transport cotton. (AR)

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