Question : Textile-Apparel Manufacturing

(a) whether textile-apparel manufacturing cost has increased and hence manufacturers are not able to compete with low cost destinations in low value products, if so, the details thereof;

(b) whether the Indian Texpreneurs Federation (ITF) has conducted any survey in this regard, if so, the findings thereof and the response of the Government thereon;

(c) whether the ITF has submitted a 11-point appeal and suggestions to the Ministry of Textiles for consideration, if so, the details thereof and the response of the Government thereon; and

(d) whether ITF urged the Government, firstly, to consider forming a task force with industry stakeholders in order to identify the short term and long term solutions to trigger the growth of exports and if so, the steps taken by the Government in this regard?

MINISTER OF TEXTILES
(SMT. SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

(a): India faces competition from countries like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka which have competitive manufacturing costs and enjoy duty free access to major textiles and apparel markets like EU.

(b) & (c): Yes sir. Findings of survey conducted by ITF are as under:

(i) Textile sector is focusing on low value added products with concentration in few markets.
(ii) Lack of manpower and sufficient skills lead to higher manufacturing cost.
(iii) Global trends in fashion are towards blends.
(iv) Exports of MMF/Synthetics fibre based apparel has shown negative growth

Response of Government is as under:

(i) 40% of India’s export basket comprises apparel, a finished value added product.
(ii) While traditional markets like (EU and USA) are important destinations for India’s export of textile and apparel, more than 50% of our export is to emerging markets
(iii) Government is focusing on skill development and capacity building in both unorganized and organized textile sectors through SAMARTH scheme.
(iv) To promote manufacturing and export of MMF based products, the inverted duty structure at the stage of fabric was corrected by permitting refund of unused input tax credits w.e.f. 01.08.2018. Further, to boost manufacturing and Make in India, duty has enhanced on 298 MMF fabric lines.
(v) To increase competitiveness of textile industry, Government announced a Special Package for garments and made ups. A key element of the package is the Rebate of State Levies (RoSL) Scheme. The RoSL scheme has now been replaced by the new Scheme for Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies (RoSCTL) w.e.f 7th March 2019. Under the said scheme state and central taxes and levies which are present in the cost of exports of garments and made-ups shall be rebated through IT driven scrips issued by DGFT.

(d): To identify issues and solutions to enhance exports, Government has regular interface with various Ministries/Departments, industry associations and Export Promotion Councils.

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