Textile and clothing industry has welcomed the removal of anti-dumping duty on Elastomeric Filament Yarn (EFY), which is used largely in production of denim products. Chairman of Confederation of Indian Textile Industry T. Rajkumar and chairman of Southern India Mills’ Association Ravi Sam said in press statements that the EFY production was limited in the country and removal of anti-dumping duty would help the industry produce value-added products. It would also improve competitiveness of denim products in the international market.
The Government had removed anti-dumping duty on most of the man-made fibres and their raw materials. The textile industry was facing a grave crisis because of sky-rocketing cotton prices. Reduction of excise duty on fuel would reduce the transportation cost of cotton to a certain extent. For textile mills in Tamil Nadu, more than 95 % of cotton requirement comes from other States.
They added that reducing the customs duty on plastic product raw materials, their intermediaries and calibrating reduction in customs duty on raw materials and intermediaries for iron and steel would benefit the textile machinery, spares and accessory manufacturers. A. Sakthivel, president of Federation of Indian Export Organisations, said similar measures were needed for some of the textile inputs as rising prices were making it extremely difficult for exporters of apparels to face price competition. Levy of export duty on cotton and duty free import of cotton yarn would improve availability of these inputs at competitive cost for the apparel sector.
