Synthetic & Rayon Textiles Export Promotion Council (SRTEPC), Association of Synthetic Fibre Industries (ASFI) and Association of Manmade Fibre Industries (AMFI) have urged the government for a reduction in excise duty on manmade fibers. They feel India's exports of manmade fiber textiles can increase to 10 billion dollars from the present six billion dollars if the excise duty on man-made fibers is reduced.

Even though Indian manmade textile products are preferred in international markets, these remain non-competitive owing to the high burden of excise duty. Vietnam exports $27 billion worth of textiles, which are largely produced from manmade fibers. Despite having two of the world’s largest producers of manmade fibers, India’s exports of sportswear and leisure wear are not even five per cent of Vietnam’s.

Further, some countries have got preferential access to export markets like the EU and the US. Besides discriminatory excise duties on manmade fibers, Indian manmade textiles are subjected to trade barriers in markets like China, Turkey and Canada.

Meanwhile India has made changes in duty drawback rates. New entries in the drawback schedule have been created for cotton yarns mixed with manmade fiber, both grey and dyed. The drawback caps in the case of certain manmade fabrics have been increased. Steps have been taken to implement the three per cent interest equalisation scheme smoothly