The government is considering coming out with a Quality Control Order (QCO) on silk to check import of low-quality silk from countries such as China, Commerce & Industry and Textiles Minister Piyush Goyal has said.

“We are planning to come out with a QCO on silk so that low quality silk from outside is not imported and domestic silk gets promoted,” the Minister said at a media briefing in Varanasi on Thursday at the conclusion of the two-day Textiles Conclave.

The Minister was responding to questions on cheap silk from China coming into the country, through circuitous route, and hurting business of domestic producers.

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BIS certification

The Centre has already come up with QCOs for over 400 items requiring mandatory BIS certification for sale in the country.

The Cotton Corporation of India and the Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council (TEXPROCIL) entered into a MoU to globally promote the ‘Kasturi’ cotton, an indigenous branded cotton launched in 2020, at the Textiles Conclave on Thursday.

Both the organisations will encourage trade and industry to work on the principle of self-regulation by owning complete responsibility of traceability, certification and branding of ‘Kasturi’ cotton. 

“The Ministry of Textiles will also contribute equal share of ₹15 crore along with trade and industry bodies over a period of three cotton seasons starting from 2022-23 to 2024-25,” according to a government note.

Matching global demand

 The Minister also announced the formation of a Textile Advisory Group (TAG) on Man Made Fibre (MMF), to promote the domestic MMF industry and help it match the growing global demand 

“The objective of TAG for MMF will be understanding the current challenges of the industry, address the bottlenecks and chalk out the future roadmap and to ensure holistic development of MMF textiles value chain,” the note underlined.

India hopes to export textiles worth $100 billion by 2030. Textile and apparel exports rose to their highest level in FY22, to $44.4 billion growing 41 per cent over FY21 and 26 per cent over FY20.

Textiles exports have slowed down over the last few months due to a drop in global demand partly owing to disruptions caused by the on-going Russia-Ukraine crisis.

(The correspondent is in Varanasi on the invitation of the Ministry of Textiles)

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