(a) whether the Government has taken note of protest by the silk farmers, reelers and other stakeholders in sericulture sector over the duty-free import of silk as well as reduction of excise duty on silk import in the recent past;
(b) if so, the details thereof; and
(c) the reaction of the Government thereto?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF TEXTILES(SMT. PANABAAKA LAKSHMI)
(a) to (c): Yes, Madam. In order to safeguard the interest of the Silk weavers of the country and to bring in stability to the abnormal increase in the raw silk prices of both domestic & imported silk, the basic customs duty on raw silk was reduced from 30% to 5% in the budget.There has been a slump in prices of cocoon and domestic raw silk in the market,though international price of Raw Silk is still above US$ 50 per Kg. The Government has got the price situation of domestic raw silk and cocoon analyzed through field visits and stake-holder consultancies.It appears that the slump in domestic prices of cocoon and raw silk is largely due to significantly higher arrival of cocoons in different markets in last 2/3 months and relatively poor quality of cocoon.Government is keeping a close watch on the price situation of both domestic raw silk and cocoons.