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Textile industry to seek Budget sops
Textile Ministry will seek budgetary concessions for the sector to remain competitive when quota regime expires by the year-end.
The Textile Ministry will be seeking budgetary concessions for the sector to remain competitive when the quota regime expires by this year-end.
Textiles Minister Shankersinh Vaghela told IANS he would be meeting Finance Minister P Chidambaram for discussions on Budget proposals pertaining to the textile sector.
"I had informal discussions with Chidambaram recently. The ministry is finalising a detailed report on the status of the textile sector and what needs to be done for development and expansion to maintain the tempo of exports," Vaghela said.
"With the quota regime ending by 2004, when the multi-fibre agreement expires, the sector has to gear up for international competition, especially from China though India is competitive enough to take on its neighbour once the quota regime ends".
"We will be seeking additional concessions for the sector to remain competitive and double our exports to Rs 1.3 trillion by 2006 from the current level of Rs 600 billion," Vaghela said.
The ministry is also expected to take up the Cenvat duty issue with the Finance Minister as the organised players and weaver bodies are at loggerheads over its retention.
Large textile mills are in favour of maintaining status quo on Cenvat, while small and medium units in the unorganised sector want the duty to be replaced with the earlier optional excise scheme.
The ministry is planning to convert the huge lands of the National Textile Corporation (NTC) mills across the country into textile malls, export promotion zones and utility centres.
"We are working on the details of the scheme to make optimal utilisation of NTC lands in cities like Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Delhi. The objective is to realise maximum value by converting them into commercial activity," Vaghela noted.
Earlier, the minister launched the "Silk Mark" scheme of the Silk Mark Organisation of India (SMOI), which will be mandatory for all primary, intermediate and finished products to indicate the quality of silk.
Sponsored by the Bangalore-based Central Silk Board of the textiles ministry, the scheme is intended to protect the interests of consumers, as the purity of silk is not known to all retail buyers.
"Mixing of silk with other fibres and fabrics made of other fibres being sold as silk is a serious threat to Indian consumers. This scheme is a step in the right direction, as the stamped logo of Silk Mark on the fabric ensures protection to consumers," Vaghela affirmed.
Silk Mark will provide an identity to the variety of silk and create awareness about its quality. It will be a registered trademark for the wholesale and retail community.
