The textile and clothing sector in India wants the government to take interest in the trade agreements proposed with Russia and the European Union and address some of the bottlenecks that the industry faces.

Vietnam and Bangladesh have overtaken India in apparel exports though they do not have manufacturing facilities for the raw materials. Differential taxation for cotton and man made fibers, need for a fiber policy, high energy costs and too many regulations are some of the factors slowing down the country’s textile industry.

Since duty free import of garments is permitted in India from Bangladesh, a lot of Chinese fabric also comes into India through Bangladesh. However, Bangladesh imposes high duties on import of fabric from India. The industry wants the norms to be modified, stipulating use of yarn and fabric of Indian origin as a pre-condition to allow duty free import of garments from Bangladesh.

India’s traditional markets are the European Union, US and Japan. Now the country is looking at newer markets like Brazil and Russia. Brazil imported apparel items worth 2.5 billion dollars in 2013-2014 from India. The industry wants textile items to be included under the existing India-Mercosr preferential trade agreement.

Since the European Union offers zero duty market access to Pakistan, Bangladesh and less developed countries, the industry wants the free trade agreement with the EU to be concluded soon.