Apparel exporters to be reimbursed for state levies

Apparel and garment exporters will be reimbursed from next week onwards for the state levies paid by them, with the Textiles Ministry securing Rs 500 crore from the Finance Ministry in this regard, a top official said.
In June last year, the government had approved a Rs 6,000 crore special package for textiles and apparel sector to create one crore new jobs in 3 years, attracting investments of USD 11 billion and generating USD 30 billion in exports.
The measures approved included additional incentives for duty drawback scheme for garments, flexibility in labour laws to increase productivity as well as tax and production incentives for job creation in garment manufacturing.

"Most of the things which were a part of the package have been implemented and we have also got Rs 500 crore from Ministry of Finance for the ROSL (Rebate of State Levies) scheme, that is the reimbursement of state levies.
"Many of the exporters have already given their claims to the Customs department. Very soon these reimbursements will start, in fact from next week, you will start getting your money," Textiles Secretary Rashmi Verma said.
Addressing the inauguration ceremony of the India International Garment Fair (IIGF) here, she urged the garment manufacturers to augment their capacities for boosting job creation and leverage the space ceded by China so that India emerges as a key player in the international market and a major sourcing hub for global brands.

"We hope that Indian garment manufacturers will use this package to augment their capacity to set up new units so that more investment comes and more jobs are generated and India emerges as a key player in the international market.

"China currently is ceding space, it is a huge opportunity and I implore upon all our exporters to take advantage of this opportunity," Verma said.
She pointed out that the special package goes a long way in developing and having a level playing field for our exporters in key markets like the US and the EU, as they were earlier working with the handicap of 9.5 per cent duty which was being levied on their products because India does not have an FTA with EU countries.

However, Apparel Export Promotion Council Chairman Ashok G Rajani said: "India's RMG (ready-made garments) exports to World during April-December of 2016-17 witnessed a decline of 0.2 per cent compared to the same period in the previous financial year.
"The market sentiments have been affected due to delays in roll out of special package which was announced for the apparel sector in June 2016 and stagnation in the Europe and US markets".
The IIGF is the country's largest garment show in South Asia covering apparel and fashion accessories. The three-day fair provides a platform to overseas garment buyers to source products and forge business relationships with Indian players in the apparel and fashion accessories domain.