KV Shrinivas, President, International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF) urged the Indian government to make urgent policy changes to ensure uninterrupted access to raw materials at competitive rates.
The Indian textiles and clothing industry has been facing significant challenges related to raw materials, including cotton and man-made fibres, and a drastic increase in power costs across various manufacturing states, said Srinivasan. He urged the government to remove the 11 per cent import duty on cotton, addressing the Quality Control Order (QCO) and price issues concerning PTA, MEG, Polyester, and Viscose, to establish a level playing field for the industry. He also condemned the government’s move to enforce QCOs on raw materials, stating it had negatively impacted the man-made fibre value chain.
Further, Srinivasan said, the government’s substantial incentives for new investments were making the industry’s existing capacities financially nonviable. India is the second-largest producer of raw materials. However, the country is yet to leverage this advantage, while neighboring countries like Bangladesh and Vietnam, lacking such resources, have experienced exponential export growth rates, he added.
