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The Gujarat government has signed MoUs with a Chinese enterprise to attract investments worth Rs 29,000 crores in the state. The MoUs, inked in Beijing during chief minister Anandi Patel's visit to China, would assist the state in building the Smart City project and along with RS 10,000 crores for a textile park in Sanand, followed by an industrial park in Gujarat, an official statement said.
"An MoU signed between the China Small and Medium Enterprise Investment (CSMEI) and iNDETXb (Industrial Extension Bureau)- a Gujarat Government entity - envisions $ 3 billion (Rs 19,000 crores) investment for the Smart City project in Gujarat," said the statement, adding, "Gujarat's Additional Chief Secretary (Industries and Mines) Arvind Agarwal exchanged MoU documents with Guo Zhixin, Deputy Secretary General, CASME, in presence of Chief Minister Anandi Patel.”
Patel on a six-day visit to China, also inked a pact with CSMEI to set up a Rs 10,000 crores industrial park in the state. She was part of the delegation that accompanied Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his tour of the neighbouring country.
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In the light of rural distress caused by drought and unseasonal rains, the Maharashtra government has appealed to seed companies to reduce the price of Bt cotton seeds. Bt cotton accounts for 60 to 70 per cent of total turnover of the rapidly growing seed industry in the country.
Though there is no paucity of Bt cotton seeds in the market this season, seed companies say they cannot reduce prices. They say production cost of seeds has risen and that there has been no reduction in the royalty fee that they have to pay. Seed companies had sold 4.5 crore packets of Bt cotton seeds in 2014-15, one-third of which was sold in Maharashtra, the state that has the highest area under cotton in the country and ranks second in production of the fiber crop.
Companies have already been fighting legal battles on the right of the state government to control seed prices. Sale of cotton seeds in the northern region, comprising Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, is almost over. In Maharashtra, only about seven to eight per cent of seeds have been sold in areas where cotton is sown early. Most of the seed sale will take place in the first week of June.
Over the last three months Ethiopia’s earnings from textile and garment exports have been growing.
The growth of the textile industries has triggered the expansion of cotton farming by public, private sector and small scale farmers. Currently, cotton is being farmed on a total of 42,000 hectares of land.
Foreign investment is flowing in thanks to the prevalence of peace and stability, availability of abundant cheap labor, plenty of cheap energy from hydro power and flourishing industrial parks all over the country.
Thanks to the enabling investment environment foreign companies are injecting their money, technology, experience as well as skills into the sector. In addition, foreign investors are encouraged through the provision of various incentives including tax holidays, tax free capital goods imports, custom services provision on the spot and easy access to financial credit.
The world number one US textile industry known as HDM has installed its factory in Hawassa Industrial Park creating 10,000 jobs and expected to create many more jobs in the coming years. Most graduates from technical colleges would benefit from these job opportunities.
India's National Green Tribunal (NGT) circuit bench of Jodhpur has ordered the closure of 739 textile factories in Balotra, Jasol and Birthuia until July 9. If they wish to reopen, they have to obtain a hazardous waste disposal authorisation from the Rajasthan State Pollution Control Board (RSPCB).
These orders followed a joint common effluent treatment plant (CETP) inspection report completed by the Central Pollution Control Board and RSPCB that was submitted in court, stating that the CEPT had not been adhering to the rules laid by pollution control boards regarding the consent to operate and the disposal of hazardous waste.
The joint report recommended installation of adequate capacity reverse osmosis plants immediately to reuse treated water in the member units and acquire land for the evaporation of reverse osmosis rejects. NGT has directed the Prabodhan Samiti advocacy organisation chaired by the district collector to regularly monitor the CETP and address any shortcomings of its operation or compliance with the rules.
The tribunal has also requested that a report outlining the textile units’ sources of water in Jodhpur and Pali be submitted by July 9. Nearly 900 textile units were ordered to close by the RSPCB for failing to install CETPs, resulting in 18 million liters of untreated chemical water being discharged into the Drayvawati river every day.
Bangladesh's earnings from exports to Turkey dropped by 19.50 per cent in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year. However, in financial year 2012-13, export earnings from Turkey grew by 146.35 per cent. Following the imposition of safeguard duties by Turkey on readymade garment imports from Bangladesh, Bangladesh’s export earnings witnessed a drastic fall in financial year 2011-12. Export earnings in financial year 2012 decreased by 64.26 per cent compared to earnings in financial year 2011.
Among the reasons for the fall in export earnings is the devaluation of the euro as well as the Turkish lira. Domestic consumption in Turkey decreased a bit due to a fall in the value of the euro. In last one year, the lira depreciated by two per cent against the euro and about 20 per cent against the dollar.
Amid the depreciation of the local currency, Turkish consumers prefer local production to imports. Due to the devaluation of the local currency production costs in Turkey became cheaper than imports and so the country started to utilise its capacity in production. Depreciation of the euro is one of the reasons for the negative export growth in Turkey as payments between Bangladesh and Turkey are settled in euro.
Krishna district in coastal Andhra Pradesh has emerged as a textile hub. In the last few years, a dozen companies have already made investments of about Rs 415 crores. More projects are in the offing. One reason is the proximity of the district to Guntur, which is a major source of raw material.
Krishna district is home to block printed cotton textiles called pedana kalamkari. The district is naturally divided into upland and delta areas and the upland areas are the favorite of textile companies. As on date, the largest investment made by any textile company in the district is that of NSL Textiles. The company has invested about Rs 120 crores in its state-of-the-art spinning mill at Veeravalli in Bapulapadu mandal and there are at least 10 other industries with an average investment of nearly Rs 35 crores but none of them is in the delta areas.
Krishna district is fast turning into a hub of cotton apparel and textile value-addition activity with fabric coming from several weavers throughout the country. At Pedana in the district skilled weavers and artisans have moved away from kalamkari work as they do not have money to invest for buying cloth.
A textile park has been allotted to Hinganghat city in Wardha district of Maharashtra. It is being set up in region which has ample cotton, polyester and other raw materials so as to ensure a win-win situation for entrepreneurs and farmers. The park will be developed in 32 acres with an estimated investment of Rs 308 crores and an employment generation capability of around 1,200 people.
The park is being promoted by Gimatex, Bhagirath, Anoop Textiles, Elecon, Toto Toya and others who have come together to form a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV). Three major textile groups have already been operating in Hinganghat for more than 100 years. Hence this region’s workforce has a textile skill set available for new units. The new investments in cotton downstream processing are expected to ensure that farmers in the region get the best price for their cotton produce.
The park scheme is promoted on the lines of an integrated and cluster approach. Around 20 parks have been approved under the new scheme, with around four in the state of Maharashtra. This scheme has recently been modified to ensure strict compliance to project execution and to promote new investments in textiles by first time entrepreneurs.
Lakshmi Machine Works' (LMW) net profit rose 25.23 per cent on a 0.64 per cent rise in total income in the fourth quarter of March 2015 over the fourth quarter of March 2014. The board has recommended a dividend of Rs 37.50 per share for the year ended March 31, 2015.
LMW was founded in 1962. It is a global player and one among the three manufacturers of the entire range of textile spinning machinery from blow room to ring spinning. The company diversified into CNC machine tools and is a brand leader in manufacturing customised products.
It has a 60 per cent market share in the domestic textile spinning machinery industry. The aim is to deliver greater value to customers by providing complete competitive solutions through technological leadership and manufacturing excellence. LMW’s global presence has grown over the years, with a market presence not only in developing countries, but also in Europe. It has won the top export award in textile machine exports for the past several years.
The foundry makes precision castings for industries the world over. Lakshmi has added the advanced technology center to produce components for the aerospace industry.
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Pakistan, has committed to import more than 0.3 million bales of cotton from the US during 2014-15 fiscal year. Pakistan is the eighth largest US cotton importer with import commitments of 3,35,000 bales in the current fiscal year. The country imported 1,69,000 bales of cotton from the US in the previous fiscal year.
US cotton is supposed to be of superior quality. Some Pakistani companies visited the US early recently to observe cotton production, processing and marketing and to meet with US cotton exporters. Pakistan imports high quality cotton from the US and other countries to meet the requirements of its textile industry. Local demand outstrips production and the demand-supply gap has to be filled through imports.
Pakistan’s cotton production during the 2013-14 period declined 9.2 per cent against the target and two per cent over last year’s production. The decrease was due to fall in acreage. Cotton output is estimated to be around 14.94 million bales this year. The country is expected to import around two million bales during 2015-16.
Cotton, has a share of 1.4 per cent in national GDP and 6.7 per cent in agriculture value addition.
Two giants in dyeing textile, DyStar® Group and DyeCoo® Textile Systems, are collaborating to develop products using DyeCoo’s breakthrough technology of substituting carbon dioxide (CO₂) for water in the dyeing process. Both these companies are dedicated advocators for sustainability and are aligned in the vision to reduce the textile industry’s future environmental impact.
DyeCoo® Textile Systems is the world’s first supplier of industrial CO₂ dyeing equipment, which uses recycled CO₂ gas instead of water to permeate textiles with dyes while DyStar® Group is a solution provider, offering customers across the globe a complete range of colorants, auxiliaries and services.
This technology offers a huge potential to save water and energy, both of which are top priorities for the textile dyers. DyStar fully commits to this project to offer the highest sustainable solutions for the textile industry.
Mats Blacker, CEO DyeCoo, said that they were very pleased with DyStar’s dedication to support their water and chemical free dyeing technology. Collaborations like this one are key to further help in ground breaking technology towards global implementation. Seeing that the textile industry is growing exponentially, making tangible sustainable and economical viable improvements a reality are not only vital for our planet, but also for the future of the entire industry. We strive to deliver commercially viable solutions for the textile industry while continuing to develop breakthrough technologies. Companies like DyStar help us to achieve those goals, he added.
