Waive import duty on cotton: Textile entrepreneurs to Centre
Textile entrepreneurs are seeking waiver of import duty on cotton to tide over the rise in yarn price that has put the industry under stress over the last one year.
Prabhu Dhamodharan, convenor of Indian Texpreneurs Federation (ITF) that has over 450 textile entrepreneurs as members, said the price of raw cotton increased by 67% in the last 12 months.
“The Union government should remove the import duty on cotton to bring down cotton prices,” he said.
Ideally, the cost of cotton should have come down in the last few weeks. But staggered supply of cotton by farmers has kept the prices high. The role of traders in hoarding cotton is also cited as a reason for the price rise.
“Cotton traders are engaging in hoarding, which has been creating artificial shortage resulting in cost inflation. Import is also difficult as the government had imposed an import duty of 10% in last year’s Budget,” said president of Tirupur Exporters and Manufacturers Association (Teama) M P Muthurathinam. “Yarn prices have increased by over 150/kg in one year. On Saturday alone, there was 30 increase, taking the price to 360. It is expected to go up,” he said.
Raja M Shanmugam, president of the Tiruppur Exporters Association, said that the government has been silent as cotton farmers are getting benefit over the increase in cotton price. “But survival of the textile industry, which is also labour intensive, is the responsibility of the government as it ensures livelihood of millions of families. If this industry suffers, cotton farmers will eventually suffer. Waiving import duty on cotton will be an immediate measure to bring prices down.”
Regards
Team Sis
Any query plz call 9111677775
https://wa.me/919111677775
