Centre sets up a new task force to boost country's textile exports

In a bid to enhance India’s textile exports at a time when the country is signing trade deals with developed nations, the government has set up a new task force that will look into sector-specific bottlenecks such as regulatory hurdles, cost competitiveness and lack of enough export credit.

  Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal has been appointed as the chair of the task force with representation from officials of Department of Commerce, Ministry of Textiles, Directorate General of Foreign Trade, along with representatives from export promotion councils, industry associations and exporters.

  In its first meeting, the task force decided to set up several issue-specific sub-groups, which will be led by relevant ministries in coordination with export promotion councils and industry representatives.

  These sub-groups will provide actionable recommendations to the task force, the commerce and industry ministry said. The discussion touched upon a wide range of issues affecting the textile value chain.  

  These included upgradation of  Environmental, Social and Governance infrastructure in garment manufacturing, use of renewable energy in manufacturing, European Union’s Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), strengthening e-commerce for export growth, labour issues, cost competitiveness for productivity enhancement, skilling, and branding.

  Participants also raised issues with export-related incentives such as RoDTEP (Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products) and RoSCTL (Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies). They also sought collateral support for export credit for MSMEs. 

Stakeholders also discussed PM MITRA textile parks, development of new Jute Diversified Products (JDPs), separate harmonised system (HS) codes for Geographical Indication products, productivity enhancement for natural fibres such as jute and matters about the Export Promotion Mission.