Question : EXPORT OF HANDLOOM PRODUCTS



(a) whether the export of handloom and textile industry products in the year 2003-2004 has come down;

(b) the target of export for this year;

(c) the reasons for not achieving export targets; and

(d) the quantum of export in this regard and the foreign currency earned through exports during the last three years?

Answer given by the minister

MINISTER OF TEXTILES ( SHRI SHANKERSINH VAGHELA )

(a) No, Sir. The total exports of textile products, including handlooms, during the year 2003-04 was US$ 13159.5 million, registering a growth of 6%. Separate export data for handloom products from the year 2003-04 onwards is not available due to absence of separate ITC (HS) Codes for the handloom products. Efforts are on with the Ministry of Finance and the office of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade for allotment of separate ITC (HS) Codes for the handloom products.

(b) A target of US$ 13500 million was fixed for the year 2003-04 for textile products, including handlooms.

(c) The reasons for not achieving the targets for the year 2003-04 are mainly increased competition from countries like China, Bangladesh etc.

(d) Quantity-wise export data is not centrally maintained. However, as per export data made available by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence & Statistics (DGCI&S), the textile exports in value terms, during the last three years i.e. from 2001-02 to 2003-04, have been as under:

Year	Textile exports, including handlooms, in Million US$
2001-02 10764.7 2002-03 12412.7 2003-04 13159.5