Textile industry wants govt to extend garment export benefit further

Move to help textile cos compete with players in countries India has signed FTA with

Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council (Texprocil) has urged the government to extend the benefits being given to garments exporters for some more time, to help them compete with players from countries with which India has signed free trade agreements (FTA).  

R K Dalmia, chairman of Texprocil, said the benefits should continue for some more time, given the high cost of inputs and preferential benefits being offered to competitors. The emergence of mega trade agreements being promoted by the US and the European Union poses fresh challenges to countries like India.

Therefore, India should take an integrated approach, rather than an ad hoc one,  while negotiating new FTA or re-negotiating old ones, Dalmia added. The growth in exports of made-ups and cotton fabrics augurs well for the Indian textile sector, with further growth potential. This would help generate more employment, said Dalmia.

Despite the overall exports of cotton textiles declined 0.1 per cent in FY15, shipment of cotton fabrics and made-ups registered an uptick of 11 per cent and five per cent to $2.44 billion and $5.05 billion, respectively.

The growth in value-added products would lead to greater employment generation and higher level of investments in the long run.