Question : SURPLUS EMPLOYEES OF APPAREL EXPORT PROMOTION COUNCIL

(a) the progress made under the Apparel Parks for exports and Textiles Centres Infrastructure Development Scheme during the year 2003-04 and 2004-05 till date;

(b) the number of projects cleared under the Apparel Parks Scheme during the above period, State and location-wise;

(c) whether the textile exporters face stiff competition from low cost suppliers like Bangladesh, China and Pakistan; and

(d) if so, the steps taken by the Government to increase the textile exports and solving the problems of Apparel Exporters?

MINISTER OF TEXTILES ( SHRI SHANKERSINH VAGHELA )

(a) Government has sanctioned three projects under Apparel Park for Exports Scheme and eleven projects under “Textile Centre Infrastructure Development (TCID) Scheme” during the year 2003-04 and 2004-05 till date. The approved projects are under various stages of implementation. Central grant-in-aid amounting to Rs.14.79 crores has been released for various approved Apparel Park projects and Rs.11.95 crores for various approved TCID projects during the above period.

(b) The state-wise details of the projects sanctioned under ‘Apparel Park for Exports’ Scheme are given below:

(Rs. in crores)
S.No	State	Location	Total Project Cost	Central Share
1	Madhya Pradesh	SEZ, Indore	29.07	17.00
2	Rajasthan	Mahal-Jaipur	27.10	17.00
3	Maharashtra	Butibori-Nagpur	16.20	13.15

-	Except for mandatory excise duty on polyester filament yarn including texturised yarn, synthetic	and artificial fibres and synthetic and artificial filament yarns, the whole value addition chain	has been given excise exemption option.
-	Additional Excise Duty on Textiles & Textile Articles (AT&T) and Additional Excise Duty	(Goods of Special Importance) Act have been abolished.
-	Basic customs duty on various textile machinery and spare parts has been reduced to 5%. 

i)	The Government has de-reserved the woven segment of readymade garment from the SSI sector.	It has also raised the SSI investment limit for knitted segment to Rs. 5 crores. 
ii)	The Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) has been made operational from 1-4-1999 to facilitate	the modernisation and upgradation of the sector. 
iii)	Weaving, processing and garment machinery, which are covered under TUFS, have been extended the	facility of accelerated depreciation at the rate of 50%. Cost of machinery has also been reduced	through Fiscal Policy measures. This further encourages modernisation.
iv)	With a view to making fabric production competitive, the custom duty on shuttleless looms has been	brought from 15% to 5%. 
v)	National Institute for Fashion Technology (NIFT), its six branches and Apparel Training & Design	Centres (ATDCs) are running various courses/programmes to meet skilled manpower requirements of	textile industry especially apparel in the field of design, merchandising and marketing. 
vi)	Facilities by way of eco-testing laboratories have been created to enable exporters to get the	garments/textiles pre-tested for conforming to the requirements of importing countries. 
vii)	The Government has launched a centrally sponsored scheme titled “Apparel Park for Export Scheme”	for imparting focused thrust for setting up of apparel manufacturing units of international standards	at potential growth centres and to give fillip to exports. 
viii)	For upgrading infrastructure facilities at important textile centers, a scheme ‘Textile Centre	Infrastructure Development Scheme’ (TCIDS) has been launched.
ix)	The Export Promotion Councils have been undertaking export promotion events like participation in	overseas exhibitions/fairs, organizing BSMs abroad, sponsoring trade delegations in consultation	with Indian Mission at abroad.