The steady growth in export of cotton fabrics and made-ups is expected to help the industry even as the cotton textile shipments remain sluggish, said RK Dalmia, Chairman, Texprocil.
Speaking at the 61st annual general meeting of the Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council (Texprocil), Dalmia said though the overall exports of cotton textiles declined by 0.1 per cent last fiscal, it was heartening to note that exports of cotton fabrics and made-ups registered 11 per cent and five per cent growth to $2.44 billion and $5.05 billion, respectively.
“This augurs well for the industry as higher export of value added products in the long run will lead to greater employment and higher level of investments,” he said.
The emergence of mega trade agreements by the US and the European Union among themselves and other key trading partners such as Korea, Vietnam and Japan pose fresh challenges for India, he said.
“It would be in the best interest of India to take an integrated approach rather than ad-hoc decision while negotiating new free trade agreements or re-negotiating old ones,” he said.
Export concession Dalmia said the government has to extend export concession for few more years given the country’s infrastructural drawback, un-rebated taxes on exports, high cost of inputs and preferential benefits of competitors.
Being one of the largest new job creators and employers, the textile and clothing industry is poised to gain government benefits based on employment generated.
Urging the Government ensure that the industry gets all raw material at par or below international prices, Dalmia said the technology upgradation fund should be reactivated and include cotton yarn in the Merchandise Export from India (MEI) Scheme besides including dyed, printed fabrics and made-ups in sops provided for export to various markets especially the Sub-Saharan African countries.