Import of manmade fibers and yarns by India have risen since June 2017 when the goods and services tax was implemented. Import of polyester staple fiber and viscose staple fiber increased five per cent and 20 per cent respectively during the financial year 2017-18 including a similar increase in imports of other products in the polyester value chain.

A considerable drop in import duty was observed after implementation of GST, which encouraged cheap imports. This has come as a great relief to domestic manufacturers. The revision in import duty is positive for domestic polyester manufacturers. The demand for low price polyester has been constantly increasing which is expected to continue in the future as well. Thus the increase in import duty is expected to benefit domestic players at large.

In case of polyester spun yarn, viscose spun yarn and nylon spun yarn imports, the increase was 94 per cent, 526 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively, which is impacting domestic manmade fiber and yarn manufacturers in a big way. Indian polyester manufacturers including Reliance, Filatex and JBF have added heavily to their existing manufacturing capacities.

Indian traders in the textile value chain were importing a lot of apparel from Bangladesh due to the low labor cost there, the low customs duty.