Textile industry seeks comprehensive policy

The textile industry is fully geared to make fresh investments and modernise. But what it seeks from the Centre is a stable policy on the lines of Satyam Committee recommendations (report submitted in 1999), say industry experts.

Stating that the last textile policy was released about a decade back and since then, the industry had undergone a sea change, Chairman of the Southern India Mills Association (SIMA), T Rajkumar, said, “we are seeking a stable and comprehensive policy. We have appealed to the Union Government to review the draft recommendations of the Ajay Shankar committee and announce an integrated textile policy soon and create a level-playing field for all the sectors in a global environment.”

“The new policy should be in line with the present era of development, should not be sectoral, but quite comprehensive,” he added.

Further, various issues relating to the Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme will have to be addressed immediately to ensure that all the beneficiaries receive the benefits and make all the sectors of the textile value chain competitive.  The industry has, in the last five years, suffered quite a bit because the Government had unnecessarily complicated the procedures and systems of the scheme.

“In spite of such bottlenecks, the industry managed to grow, but could have achieved 9-10 per cent growth if only the systems and procedures were consistent and not tinkered every now and then.”

In 2013-14 alone, the industry has added 10 lakh spindles. But 70 per cent of such addition was only in the North, in states such as Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Punjab. Of the remaining 30 per cent, capacity addition was more in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, than Karnataka in the South.

When asked about the fate of the National Fibre Policy, the SIMA chief said, “we understand that this is ready, but have no clue as to why it has not been released yet. The industry needs a consistent policy on export of cotton and yarn.”