Indian textile industry ask government for more support

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Feb 26, 2016

The Confederation of Indian Textile Industry has asked the government to include incentives in the budget for next financial year, such as halving excise duty on synthetic fibre and filament and changes in labour laws.

"The textile sector can provide jobs to unskilled labourers and women as well, even in rural areas, if we get government's support in the form of higher market access, changes in labour laws and opportunities to scale up," said the Secretary General of the organisation (CITI), Binoy Job, to the Press Trust of India.

The textile organization demanded trade pacts with the US and the EU to gain better access to these markets. "We don't have much access to major markets like the US and European Union. To address this issue, Government should conclude free trade agreement with EU at the earliest and put in place a similar arrangement with US,” said Job.

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Additionally, the secretary asked the Indian government to reduce the excise duty on man-made fibre from 12% to 6%, as its consumption in the country is outperformed by cotton by nearly 30%.

India’s textile sector accounts for nearly 4% of the country’s GDP and is the second largest employer after agriculture.

The budget for financial 2016-17 will be presented on February 29.