Question : IMPORT OF SILK

(a) Whether the silk available in the country is not sufficient to cater to the needs of the people ;

(b) if so, whether the Government has permitted import of silk ;

(c) if so, the details thereof for the last three years, country-wise;

(d) whether the cheap Chinese silk available in the country is being smuggled; and

(e) if so, the details thereof alongwith the action taken by the Government to protect the indigenous silk producers?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF TEXTILES (SHRI E.V.K.S. ELANGOVAN)

(a) Yes Sir, The domestic demand for silk in India is estimated to be around 25,000 MTs, where as the country’s production is around 17,305 MTs (2005-06) resulting into a gap of around 8,000 MTs annually
(b) The Government has permitted import of silk under the OGL.
(c) Country-wise import of raw silk into India during last three years is shown in Annexure.

(d) & (e) There is no definite information about the quantity and value of the smuggled consignments, which are entering the country illegally. The cheap raw silk which is entering India illegally, has affected the silk sector in the country mainly since the year 2001-02.

The Director-General of Anti-dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD) has issued an order on 4th July 2003 imposing anti-dumping duty on the raw silk imported from China P.R. This imposition of anti-dumping duty has brought certain stability in the Indian silk market. The DGAD has also imposed provisional anti-dumping duty by issuing gazette notification on 28th April, 2006 pending final findings on silk fabric imported from China. This has helped the power-loom industry. However, in order to promote Indo-China border trade a notification has been issued by Directorate General of Foreign Trade vide their notification dated 13th June, 2006 wherein the item “silk” is permitted to be imported freely.

Apart from the above available legal measures the Government have taken several initiatives through Central Silk Board and the State Governments to strengthen the Indian silk industry by focusing on improvement in productivity and quality through improved technology to counter the import of Chinese silk into the country. The Government is implementing an ambitious Catalytic Development Programme to improve both the quality and productivity of Indian raw silk.

Annexure

Country-wise import of raw silk into India during last three years

SL.	COUNTRY	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06 (P)	QTY (M.T.)	QTY (M.T.)	QTY (M.T.)
1	CHINA P. REPUBLIC	7576	7243	8116
2	CHINA TAIPEI (TAIWAN)	25	54	27
3	BRAZIL	269	79	57
4	KOREA REPUBLIC	111	18	19
5	HONGKONG	24	2	3
6	SWITZERLAND	925	101	-
7	JAPAN	190	423	10
8	UZBEKISTAN	45	21	50
9	U S A	12	-	1
10	SINGAPORE	-	-	1	OTHERS	81	7	50	TOTAL	9258	7948	8334