The government also plans to sign free trade agreements with other nations to secure the competitiveness of India's textile exports. The Cabinet has approved a Production-linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for man-made fibers and technical textiles sectors. To run over the next five years, the scheme is expected to bring in 7.5 lakh new jobs and help Indian producers switch from Cotton textiles to these new products which account for two-thirds of global textile production, Textile Minister Piyush Goyal said on 8 September. The scheme aims to boost the production of these products and regain India's position as one of the largest sources of apparels and textiles globally. While India remains one of the largest producers globally, its share of global production and exports have constantly eroded over the past decade as smaller nations like Bangladesh and Thailand have raced ahead.
Into the details
The new PLI proposes to incentivise eligible manufacturers by paying between 3 percent and 11 percent incentive on incremental production. It has two categories of investments above Rs. 100 crore and Rs. 300 crore. As a result of these, fresh investment of more than Rs.19,000 crore and cumulative turnover of over Rs.3 lakh crore is expected to be achieved, the government has said. "Companies which will set up factories in aspirational districts and Tier-III and Tier-IV will be given priority while allocating incentives. The number of jobs created will also be taken into consideration," Goyal said. Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Odisha stand to be the front-running states which are expected to benefit from this, he added. However, he asked other states to also bring out their schemes for textiles and add to this. The government wants the scheme to cause a shift from traditional textiles to newer more globally sought-after products. Most apparel manufacturing is increasingly becoming dependent on MMF. The new scheme is expected to help India quickly catch up with competing economies by switching to products and production methods more conducive to consumer tastes and corporate demands. The share of MMF in India's traditional textile export basket remains low with only a-fifth of all textile products are MMF while the rest are cotton. Interestingly, globally the trend is the opposite.
Industry lauds move
The scheme has generated widescale praise from domestic industry. "The global MMF market is about $ 200 billion and India should aim to get 10 percent of the market in the next 5 years. The MMF apparels currently account for 20 percent of our overall apparel exports and we should increase its share to 50 percent in next 5 years, said Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President A Sakthivel. Kulin Lalbhai, Co-Chairman of the National Committee on Textiles and Apparel at the Confederation of Indian Industry lauded the timing of the scheme as the industry is recovering from the economic impact of covid. "The MMF and technical textile segments are large and very strategic from an export perspective and the PLI scheme will help companies achieve scale and efficiency in these segments," he added. "We are confident that incentivizing indigenous manufacturers to increase their production capabilities will have a ripple effect that will benefit all stakeholders across the value chain, by driving greater domestic consumption and international trade as well as boost employment generation," Dipali Goenka, Jt MD & CEO, Welspun India, said.
Source: Money Control
Union Minister of Textiles Piyush Goyal`s Exclusive interview on PM Modi`s PLI Scheme Watch Textiles minister Piyush Goyal`s Exclusive interview on PM Modi`s PLI Scheme. He explains what government aims with PLI scheme and how it will benefit the nation.
Source: India TV News
Synopsis At present, SEZs are allowed to sell their products in the domestic market, but after payment of customs duty. Export Promotion Council for SEZ and EOUs (EPCES) Chairman Bhuvnesh Seth has urged the government to extend the benefits of RoDTEP to the sector. Union minister Anupriya Patel on Wednesday expressed hope that the demand of SEZ community for extending the benefits of tax refund scheme RoDTEP to them will soon be addressed. Under the Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme, various central and state duties, taxes, levies imposed on input products, among others are refunded to exporters to boost exports. At present, SEZs are allowed to sell their products in the domestic market, but after payment of customs duty. Export Promotion Council for SEZ and EOUs (EPCES) Chairman Bhuvnesh Seth has urged the government to extend the benefits of RoDTEP to the sector. "We are taking this up with the department of revenue and we are very hopeful that your concerns will soon be addressed," Patel, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, said at the virtual launch of new office of EPCES. She said that in the guidelines of RoDTEP, there is a provision for considering this issue by the RoDTEP committee. She also said SEZs and EOUs will play an important role in achieving USD 400 billion exports target for the current fiscal year. On pending payments of MEIS (merchandise exports from India scheme), Director General of Foreign Trade Amit Yadav said, "My sense is that within a week, we would be notifying that". Seth said the sector accounts for about 25 per cent to the country's total exports and "we will achieve the USD 400 billion exports target."
Source: Economic Times
The incentives will be provided for incremental production in 40 man-made-fibre-based garments, 14 MMF-based fabrics and 10 technical textile segments, textiles secretary UP Singh told FE. Similarly, those investing at least Rs 100 crore will get 11% in the first year if their turnover hits Rs 200 crore or more. After the first year, both the categories of investors will have to show a 25% incremental turnover annually. The Cabinet committee on economic affairs on Wednesday cleared a Rs 10,683-crore production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme under which manufacturers of select manmade fibre and technical textile products will be granted incentives up to 15%. Potential investors will have to set up new subsidiaries to get the benefits available for five years. The scheme is open to two categories of investors. Those who will invest at least Rs 300 crore will be eligible for a 15% incentive in the first year if they achieve a turnover of Rs 600 crore or more. Similarly, those investing at least Rs 100 crore will get 11% in the first year if their turnover hits Rs 200 crore or more. After the first year, both the categories of investors will have to show a 25% incremental turnover annually. But the benefits will drop by 100 basis points with each passing year in both the cases. Companies will get two years to set up the plants. But if they can establish the facilities earlier than that, they will get incentives early too. While the government has lowered the lofty investment and turnover criteria from the level envisaged earlier, it has kept cotton products out of PLI scheme’s purview. This is despite the textiles industry demand to include at least those natural fibre-based items in which value addition is substantial. With this, the government has also sought to correct India’s historical policy bias towards cotton-based value chain that is, in fact, contrary to the global consumption pattern. The idea is to reclaim India’s export markets after ceding substantial ground to Bangladesh and Vietnam in recent years. Commerce, industry and textiles minister Piyush Goyal said, leveraging the economies of scale, the scheme will help domestic companies to emerge as global champions. It will also promote fabric production as well as processing units, the areas where India is lagging. The country is also engaged with key economies, such as the UK, the UAE and the EU, to hammer out free trade agreements (FTAs) that will benefit the textiles and garment sector, among others. However, he made it clear that the government won’t forge FTAs in a hurry, which could be counter-productive; instead, it will sign “good FTAs”. The incentives will be provided for incremental production in 40 man-made-fibre-based garments, 14 MMF-based fabrics and 10 technical textile segments, textiles secretary UP Singh told FE. The ministry is planning to finalise the guidelines in about a week and applications will be invited between November 1 and December 31, he added. Asked if the current scheme would succeed, given that some of the earlier programmes, especially the TUFS, haven’t quite catalysed the kind of investments and exports that were initially envisaged, the secretary said the PLI scheme would be a game changer. Even the earlier schemes were still instrumental in helping the sector move forward. The A-TUFS, for instance, helped the modernisation of many power looms across states, he added. As many as 25 large investors and 45 smaller companies are expected to benefit from the scheme, Vijoy Kumar Singh, additional secretary in the textile ministry, told FE. While the government’s focus is to ramp up domestic manufacturing, analysts said, with elevated production, exports, too, will get a boost as well. Even before the pandemic struck, textile and garment exports shrank 8.6% year on year to $33.7 billion in FY20. As such, the sector’s share in the overall merchandise exports has been sliding consistently in recent years, having dropped from as much as 13.7% in FY16 to just 10.8% in FY20, the lowest in around a decade. Last fiscal, such exports dropped by 10% to $30.3 billion, worse than a 7% contraction in overall merchandise exports.
Source: Financial Express
India is in a positive momentum with respect to signing trade deals with the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Bangladesh, EU, Gulf Cooperation Council. Even as India is gearing up to ink trade pacts with some countries over the next few months, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said that free trade agreements (FTAs) cannot be signed in haste. “Under the guidance of Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi Ji, we go deep into FTAs so that they do not harm any established sector of India, India should also get benefits and there should be reciprocity. We should not reach a point where only our market is open (for other nations) and not the other way around,” Goyal told reporters on Wednesday. “In the past, we have faced the consequences of signing an FTA in haste...that is the reason India opted out of RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership),” he said. Currently, India is in a positive momentum with respect to signing trade deals with the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Bangladesh, the European Union (EU), and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations. The minister also said that FTAs will also help the textile sector in getting a level playing field as it faces unequal duties in some of these markets.
Source: Business Standard
The textile industry (/topic/textile-industry) on Wednesday welcomed the Union Cabinet's approval of the production linked incentive scheme for the textile sector aimed at boosting manufacturing activities and jobs, besides scaling up exports. Appreciating the Centre's decision, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII (/topic/cii)) National Committee on Textiles and Apparel Co-Chairman Kulin S Lalbhai said that the scheme was announced at the most opportune time when the textile industry (/topic/textile-industry) is recovering from the economic impact of Covid-19. "The manmade fibres (MMF) and technical textile segments are large and very strategic from an export perspective and the PLI scheme will help companies achieve scale and efficiency in these segments," he stated. "I am sure the scheme will boost domestic manufacturing and exports, and go a long way in contributing to the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat," he added. The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India Secretary-General Deepak Sood also lauded this decision and said that PLI would be a booster push for the textile industry (/topic/textile-industry), not only for committing new investment in the sector but also scaling up the existing capabilities for enhanced output, rightly estimated by the government, at Rs 3 lakh crores over the next five years. "With a focus on Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat, the PLI (/topic/pli) scheme is playing a catalyst role in realising the objectives set out in the flagship programmes for making India a global hub for manufacturing across different segments of the industry," he added. Earlier in the day, the Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the PLI (/topic/pli) scheme and Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal (/topic/piyush-goyal) informed that a package of Rs 10,683 crores will be allocated for 10 different segments of the textiles sector as part of the scheme over five years. Goyal also said that India would sign free-trade agreements (FTAs) in textile sectors with countries like the United Kingdom. Welcoming the Cabinet's approval of the PLI (/topic/pli) scheme, Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC (/topic/aepc)) Chairman Dr A Sakthivel said that the scheme will result in a fresh investment of gigantic proportions, expand manufacturing capacities and enhance exports multifold. "It will make India a key player in the global textile value chain with a focus on high-value MMF products. Besides, it will promote industrial development in backward regions of the country," he added.
Source: Ani News
Both the minister and the Lord Mayor, William Russell, underlined the Enhanced Trade Partnership (ETP) agreed between Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Boris Johnson at their virtual summit in May as setting out an ambitious roadmap to at least double bilateral trade by 2030. The UK and India are in a "sweet spot" of global trade dynamics as negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) begin in the coming weeks, according to Britain's trade minister in charge of the bilateral talks. Liz Truss, UK Secretary of State for International Trade, revealed that the public consultation process ahead of the trade negotiations attracted "huge interest" from businesses across the UK and its completion last month means that FTA negotiations can now begin. Addressing a special reception hosted by the Lord Mayor of London to celebrate the UK-India Economic Partnership on Tuesday evening, the minister confirmed that both sides will "hammer out" the details during the upcoming visit of Commerce and Industry minister Piyush Goyal to the UK and Europe next week. Recommended by "We just completed our consultation on an Indian trade deal, which saw huge interest from businesses across the country. We are now going to begin negotiating a free trade agreement," said Truss. "I see the UK and India in a sweet spot of the trade dynamics that are building up... We are looking at a comprehensive trade agreement that covers everything, from financial services to legal services to digital and data, as well as goods and agriculture. We think there is strong possibility for us to get an early agreement, where we lower tariffs on both sides and start to see more goods flowing between our two countries," she said. Pointing to the post-Brexit scenario as the UK's chance to set out an independent trade policy outside the European Union (EU), the senior Cabinet minister flagged India as the "big, major opportunity" ahead following 68 trade deals clinched by Britain since leaving the economic bloc. She also referenced her visit to India earlier in the year, including a tour of the Serum Institute of India (SII) in Pune which is in a UK tie-up to produce the Oxford University and NSE -0.42 % COVID-19 vaccines, as she highlighted collaboration in the field of science and tech as a sign of things to come as that trade route between the UK and India is deepened. "Like the UK, India is a science and tech superpower... the Serum Institute of India provides two-thirds of the vaccines that inoculate children around the world. That is truly a tremendous achievement," said Truss. "Working with India will help enhance the UK's position as a global hub for digital and services. But for me it's about more than that: it's about two democracies who share values, share an approach to working together to the benefit of both of our populations," she said "In every possible way, we have a hugely strong relationship between our two nations and all I can see is things moving in the right direction. It's vitally important that as we want to recover from the COVID crisis across the world, we see more free enterprise and free trade," she noted. The trade minister also laid out some developing trends that hold out great promise for the India-UK relationship, including the growing digitisation of global trade. "The other big trend we are seeing is the growth in the Indo-Pacific region, where a lot of our trade negotiations are oriented towards. India is expected to have more middle-class consumers than the US by 2030, and they would want to buy the finer things that Britain supplies - whether that's financial services, insurance, computer technology, high-value food and drink or indeed our advanced manufacturing products," she pointed out. Both the minister and the Lord Mayor, William Russell, underlined the Enhanced Trade Partnership (ETP) agreed between Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Boris Johnson at their virtual summit in May as setting out an ambitious roadmap to at least double bilateral trade by 2030. "The most innovative and dynamic part of our relationship is in the financial professional services and we at the City of London have done a lot to support that part of the relationship," said the Lord Mayor - the leader of the financial hub of the UK capital. "This relationship is only getting stronger, whether that's through the India-UK 2030 Roadmap announced earlier this year by our Prime Ministers or the work of individual businesses like Barclays Bank, who have invested nearly GBP 300 million to expand their operations in India," he said. Describing the bilateral ties as the "investment opportunity of a generation", the Lord Mayor highlighted the key priorities for the UK-India relationship as enhanced mobility and resumption of business travel between both countries, doubling of financial professional services trade in the next decade and increased green investments to support India's sustainability and decarbonisation agenda.
Source: Economic Times
Ease of Doing Business for MSMEs: Having battled the two waves of the pandemic and understood the buying behaviour of consumers in the new normal, small businesses including retailers are hoping to get their mojo back to some extent this festive season While consumers had planned shopping during last year’s festive season as well, 75 per cent were inclined towards making online purchases. Ease of Doing Business for MSMEs: This year’s festive season would be the moment of truth for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) across multiple offline consumer-facing sectors after the dampened show last year. That’s also because the online channel or e-commerce had seized the opportunity last year to pull shoppers onto the digital medium for both recreational and essential shopping, thanks to the Covid-induced tailwinds. Now having battled the two waves of the pandemic and understood the buying behaviour of consumers in the new normal, small businesses including retailers are hoping to get their mojo back to some extent this festive season as the rate of vaccination continues to go up even as the fear of third-wave lingers on in the background. “There is definitely some sense of optimism for this year’s festive season. While the third wave’s fear is there but it seems the vaccination programme is well on its way to take care of the situation. So, the big silver lining is clearly the vaccination programme. If this continues, most of the retailers will plan for a big festive season while many are expecting growth over 2019 levels. This season would be of cheerful shopping from last year’s,” Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, Retailers Association of India (RAI) told Financial Express Online. While consumers had planned shopping during last year’s festive season as well, 75 per cent were inclined towards making online purchases in comparison to 66 per cent who had planned to opt for standalone shops, according to RAI’s festive shopping index 2020. Apparel shopping and eating out have always been the top indicators of how well the consumer sentiment has been during the festive season. “Electronics and food segments are already doing good. The real indicator is garments after food. The second-largest category of consumption in India is garments or textiles which hasn’t been as successful yet. Here the feeling of enjoyment during the season to go out and meet friends and relatives is important as the office wear segment is still impacted. So, growth would come if casual clothing and festive clothing recover. That will be the big cheer,” added Rajagopalan. The domestic textiles and apparel market was around worth $100 billion in FY19 and is likely to grow to $190 billion by FY26, according to India Brand Equity Foundation. According to a recent ICRA report, textile exporters in India would be seeing a 20-25 per cent during the current financial year. Moreover, the government on Wednesday had approved the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for man-made fiber-based apparel and 10 segments of technical textiles with a budgetary outlay of Rs 10,683 crore. Also, export-incentive schemes such as Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) and Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies (RoSCTL) are expected to boost the textiles sector. “Textile sector is doing good while the growth in exports is also looking to pick up. The sector majorly has MSMEs. As far as expectations from the festive season is concerned, textile and apparel businesses are definitely expecting it to be better than last year’ season. While one won’t expect the markets to be crowded like before Covid, but it won’t be sombre like the previous year. The trend is towards improvement in sales while reaching 2019 levels will take some time. Businesses have now been used to the Covid environment and they know how much goods to stock,” Ashok Juneja, President, The Textile Association (India) told Financial Express Online. “The government’s initiatives like RoSCTL, RoDTEP, PLI scheme, etc., will help MSMEs do better during the festive season. The demand is likely to go up from last year,” VD Zope, Chairman, The Textile Association (India) told Financial Express Online. Delhi-based RK Vij of Indorama Synthetics, which is into the polyester fabric, said businesses are expecting improved sales from this month onwards, coming out of the second wave’s impact. “We have already been running our plant and the growth this season is expected to be around 15-20 per cent in the production and subsequent sales. We are more prepared this time amid a possible third wave and expect less impact on sales,” Vij told Financial Express Online. Likewise, Viva Hospitality, which owns the quick-service restaurant brand Imly, sees the confidence coming back to a fair extent this year in comparison to last year as consumers have returned to eating out with families and friends post second wave. Hospitality was among the sectors that witnessed maximum disruption last year as lockdown-related restrictions forced eateries to shut temporarily and consumers to stay inside their homes. “Restaurants this year started opening up in June itself after the second wave. So, the relaxation post-Covid is there now while a lot of people have already been vaccinated. The situation would be much better this season. We have recovered around 60 per cent while our bar concept called Duty Free has got 80 per cent recovery done in comparison to just 30 per cent last year from pre-covid levels,” Varun Puri, Co-founder, Viva Hospitality told Financial Express Online. Puri added that he had to shut four outlets during the Covid period as landlords were not ready to negotiate with the rentals. However, they were also able to open three new outlets amid Covid itself. “Festive season gains will nowhere be close to what we have lost but it will help regain some confidence. If there is a third wave, it would definitely hit the confidence but restaurants are better prepared this time,” Puri said. However, according to Rajagopalan, the purchasing pattern might take a dip during the festive season if there is a third wave as people won’t celebrate the time with a sense of optimism and would prefer again not to move out to shop or meet relatives or friends.
Source: Financial Express
On Wednesday, 8 September, the Cabinet approved a new five-year Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme specifically for synthetic fibers and technical textiles, which are used in healthcare, personal protection as well as for industrial safety. Along the lines of existing schemes, the latest PLI plan is aimed at providing a major boost to domestic production and exports of these items. Interestingly, the Rs. 10,683 crore scheme is geared towards items which account for less than 20 percent of India's total textile production. What are synthetic, or man-made, fibers ? In fashion, a fiber is a long and thin strand or thread of material that can be knit or woven into a fabric. Man-made fibers (MMFs) are made by chemical synthesis, as opposed to natural fibers that are directly derived from living organisms. MMFs such as nylon, polyester, acrylic, rayon and polyolefin dominate global apparel production. They account for 75 percent of all fibers produced worldwide, and for 80 percent in developed markets such as Europe and North America. World production was 76.5 million tonnes in 2019 with the principal end-use being in clothing, but also extended to carpets and household textiles. They are also used in a wide range of technical products such as tyres, conveyor belts, cold-weather clothing, air and water filters. What are technical textiles ? Technical textiles are a segment of textiles used for a vast array of purposes such as healthcare, agriculture, roads, railway tracks, military and disaster management. In India, the technical textiles segment is estimated at $16 billion or 6 percent of the $250- billion global market. According to the government, the penetration level of technical textiles is low in India, varying between 5 and 10 per cent against 30-70 percent in developed countries. As many as 92 categories of technical textiles, including fire-resistant curtains, geogrid for railways, high-altitude combat gear, bulletproof jackets, leno bags for transporting farm commodities, and architectural membranes for tents, had been identified for mandatory use by central ministries and public agencies. Last year, the Cabinet approved a Rs 1,480-crore National Technical Textiles Mission set to run till 2024. The mission targets an average growth rate of 15-20 percent annually and a domestic market size of $ 40-50 billion by 2024. What is the state of textile production in India ? In terms of employment, the textiles (including apparel) industry in India is only behind the agricultural sector. It provides direct employment to 45 million people and 60 million in allied industries, according to Invest India, the government’s investment promotion arm. India is among the world’s largest producers of textiles products and apparel. The domestic textiles and apparel industry contributes 5 percent of India’s GDP, 7 percent of industry output in value terms and 11 percent of export earnings. While there are almost a dozen incentive schemes for manufacturing, myriad issues ranging from a lack of working capital and outdated technology to the fragmented nature of supply chains have held it back. To double the industry size to $190 billion by 2025-26, seven mega textile parks have been planned. How are India's textile exports faring ? Textiles have historically been one of the largest foreign exchange earners for India, but their share of exports has fallen from 24 percent in 2000 to just 11 percent in 2020. This happened as Indian companies and exporters have continuously lost market share to more aggressive rivals from China, Bangladesh and Thailand. The hit has been excruciatingly severe in the biggest sub-segment of India's textile, apparel, which fell from contributing 11 percent of exports in 2000 to just 4 percent in 2020. The pandemic has hastened this decline, sending policymakers into a huddle on damage control measures. Textile and apparel exports from India declined by 10 per cent to $32.05 billion during the fiscal year 2020-21 ending March 31. While this was in line with other major sectors, the share of textiles and made-ups (bed linen, carpets, bean bags and so on) increased to 62 per cent of total exports while shipments of apparel decreased to 38 per cent during the year. Why is the government batting for a PLI scheme for a relatively small segment within textiles ? Officials say the primary reason is to finally cause a shift from traditional textiles to newer, more globally sought-after products. Most apparel manufacturing is increasingly becoming dependent on MMFs. The new scheme is expected to help India quickly catch up with competing economies by switching to products and production methods more conducive to consumer tastes and corporate demand. The share of MMFs in India's traditional textile export basket remains low with only a fifth of all textile products made of synthetic fiber and the rest cotton. Interestingly, the globally the trend is the opposite. How does the scheme work ? The scheme is expected to cover around 40 MMF apparel product categories such as track suits, coats and baby garments, and around 10 in the technical textiles category. An incentive of 3 percent to 11 percent of the annual incremental revenue for five years will be provided to existing as well as proposed investments in the sector.
Source : Money Control
Chairman, CITI, Shri T Rajkumar welcomed the approval of the Production Linked Incentive Scheme (PLIS) for MMF Fabrics, Garments and Technical Textiles by the Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi Ji, Chairman of the Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs (CCEA). Shri T. Rajkumar said, the Scheme with an outlay of Rs.10,683 crores will provide a major thrust to the MMF Fabrics, Garments and Technical Textiles which are being seen as the growth engine of the next decade and will help the Textiles and Clothing (T&C) industry to achieve its short-term as well as long-term goals set by the Government of India. CITI Chairman, also thanked the Hon’ble Finance Minister, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman Ji and Hon’ble Union Minister of Textiles, Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs & Food & Public Distribution, Shri Piyush Goyal Ji for making the Scheme a reality with a total outlay of INR 1.97 Lakh Crores for 13 key sectors, including Textile & Clothing Industry, to create global champions and generate additional employment opportunities for country’s youth especially for poor and illiterate women of the rural areas. Shri T Rajkumar cited that world over MMF Sector and Technical Textiles are considered as the driving force for the growth of any country’s textile industry and the same has also been endorsed and recognised by our Government. Hence, Government has addressed many structural issues in the MMF Sector by removing anti-dumping duty on Purified Terephthalic Acid (PTA) and Viscose Staple Fibre (VSF) and rejected the proposed antidumping duties on PSF, MEG, etc. which has made the MMF fibre and yarn cheaply available to the domestic players at internationally competitive prices. The Government has also allocated Rs.1,480 crores under Technology Mission on Technical Textiles for encouraging R&D activities in the sector. He further pointed out that Technical Textiles has a major role to play in the overall development of several sectors of the economy, including infrastructure, water, health and hygiene, defence, security, automobiles, aviation, etc. Thus, the inclusion of both the sectors in PLIS underlines the importance of these segments for enhancing India’s trade share in the global textile trade. CITI Chairman pointed out that through PLI Scheme, the Hon’ble Minister of Textiles wants to scale up the capacity of the T&C Industry by ten times. Considering the growing demand for textile products in the domestic sector as well as across the globe, the PLI Scheme is expected to attract a fresh investment of over Rs.19000 crores, additional production turnover of Rs.3 lakh crore in Five Years and will create additional employment for 7.5 lakh people and would significantly expand the size of the textile sector. Shri T Rajkumar stated that there are two types of investment possible with different sets of incentive structures, first, where a company willing to invest Rs.300 crores in Plant, Machinery, Equipment and Civil Works (excluding land and administrative building cost) to produce products of Notified lines (MMF Fabrics, Garment) and products of Technical Textiles, shall be eligible to apply for participation in the first part of the scheme. Similarly, in the second part, a company willing to invest Rs.100 crores shall be eligible to apply for participation in this part of the scheme. In addition, priority will be given for investment in Aspirational Districts, Tier 3, Tier 4 towns, and rural areas and due to this priority Industry will be incentivized to move to the backward areas. He further stated that this scheme will positively impact especially States like Gujarat, UP, Maharashtra, Tamilnadu, Punjab, AP, Telangana, Odisha, etc. CITI Chairman stated that the PLI Scheme and other policy decisions made by the Government of India will not only improve the competitiveness of the Indian textile sector but go a long way in fulfilling the dreams of the Hon’ble Prime Minister of making our T&C Industry AatmaNirbhar in real sense and India a global manufacturing hub for the textile sector. With this, India hopes to regain its dominance in the Global Textiles Trade.Source: Money Control
Source: Tecoya Trend
At least six textile units are scheduled to start operations in the state in the next three months. A government spokesperson has said that land has been provided to investors for setting up 10 more textile units. “As many as 15 textile mills have been set up in UP in the last three years. The state government received investment proposals for Rs 8,715.16 crore from 66 industrialists in the textile sector in the last four years. On completion of these 66 textile factories, around 5,25,087 people will get employment,” said a government spokesperson. He added that the 15 textile units, that have already come up in the state, saw an investment of Rs 756.91 crore and have provided jobs to 4,800 people. The six, that are to become operational soon, will employ 1,500 people. These include Jindal Handtex Pvt Ltd, Vivacity Homes Pvt Ltd, UV Garment Pvt Ltd, DS Exports, Rakesh International Trading Company and Shiva Polyplast Pvt Ltd. While Jindal, UV Garment, DS Exports and Rakesh Trading have their factories in Ghaziabad, Vivacity Homes has set up its unit in Noida and Shiva Polyplast in Kanpur. “Development authorities have allotted land for a textile park in Gautam Budh Nagar, while a big textile mill will be set up in Mathura at a cost of Rs 300 crore. The construction of the proposed textile park and textile mills is expected to start soon,” said the spokesperson. He added Kanpur is emerging as a major textile hub. Kanpur Plastipack Limited has invested Rs 200 crore in Kanpur Dehat, RP Poly Packs Rs 150 crore in Rania and GLKK Industries Rs 25 crore in Ruma. Srishti Industries has set up a knitting factory in Kanpur Dehat while Gadgets Apparel has established a garment unit and Anilikha Fabric has set up a hosiery cloth mill in Kanpur.
Source: Times of India
The government's revenues were also far short of target as pandemic curbs hurt economic activity, Rajapaksa said during a debate in parliament Tuesday Sri Lanka is facing a severe foreign exchange crisis after the pandemic hit the island nation’s earnings from tourism and remittances, Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa said. The government’s revenues were also far short of target as pandemic curbs hurt economic activity, Rajapaksa said during a debate in parliament Tuesday. The country is under an extended lockdown amid a record rise in Covid-19 deaths and hospitalizations caused by the delta variant. The deteriorating reserves position prompted S&P Global Ratings to last month cut Sri Lanka’s rating outlook to negative. That helped stoke concerns the nation won’t be able to service $1.5 billion of debt due next year, as well speculation Colombo may turn to the International Monetary Fund for support. Revenue from tourism has fallen to about $2 million a month this year, from more than $450 million two years ago, according to data from Trading Economics. Until recently, travel and tourism accounted for 5% of the $81 billion economy, whose foreign exchange reserves have now depleted to the lowest level since 2009 after repayment of $1 billion of debt in July. Rajapaksa said Sri Lanka was receiving concessionary funds from the World Bank and Asian Development Bank to help face the pandemic. “Our policy is to borrow loans with simple and concessionary terms without any conditions that will harm the country’s independence and sovereignty,” he said, without elaborating. The government earlier this year imposed capital controls as it sought to use its own resources to meet external payment obligations instead of turning to the IMF, whose aid comes with strict conditions.
Source: Bloomberg
Egypt is keen on benefiting from Korean expertise to boost its industrial sector, said Nevin Gamea, Egypt’s trade and industry minister. She held a meeting with her South Korean counterpart Yeo Han-koo on Wednesday during which the ministers discussed ways to enhance bilateral economic ties. Gamea said the volume of trade exchange between Egypt and South Korea amounted to $1.051 billion during the first half of this year, an increase of 32.2 percent year-onyear.Bill G She said the Egyptian exports to the Korean market increased by 11.3 percent during the first half of this year, reaching $247 million, compared to $222 million during the same period last year. The minister said Korean investments in Egypt amounted to about $570 million in 181 projects.
Source: Arab News
Vietnam’s garment-textile and footwear have borne the brunt of COVID-19 and firms in the sectors may take a long time to recover, experts said. Vietnam’s garment-textile and footwear have borne the brunt of COVID-19 and firms in the sectors may take a long time to recover, experts said. The sectors greatly contribute to the country’s exports as well as generate jobs for a large number of workers. However, many factories remain closed due to difficulties triggered by the ravaging pandemic. Estimates showed that a footwear firm with about 9,000 workhands needs to spend approximately 1 million USD on preventive measures, while the costs of input materials have risen 5-10 percent. Some businesses said they are facing fines for late delivery and risks of losing orders for the next season. To maintain orders for the following year, Phan Thi Thanh Xuan, General Secretary of the Vietnam Leather and Footwear Association (Lefaso), said the association has proposed easing the restrictions in three phases. Prospects of this year and even of 2022 have become gloomy, she added. Chairman of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas) Vu Duc Giang said if the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread, firms may not be able to maintain and stabilise operations as well as retain customers. It is important to keep the workforce amid uncertainties of production plans, COVID19 vaccine shortages and unpredictable developments of the pandemic, according to Vitas. To restore production of the sectors, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) will work to remove bottlenecks and provide the most possible support to help factories resume operation and take advantage of orders at year’s end in the European and US markets. In addition, the MoIT will step up the implementation of a development strategy for garment-textile and footwear to 2030, with a vision to 2035, and the building of a programme on sustainable development of the sectors until 2030. It will also strive to expand export markets, capitalise on advantages of existing free trade agreements, diversify export items and improve the competitive edge of products and brands.
Source: Vietnam Plus
The United Kingdom has suspended for an indefinite period its plans for post-Brexit checks on some goods entering Northern Ireland after negotiations with the European Union (EU) reached a stalemate. Britain’s Brexit minister David Frost last evening revealed a fresh extension to the Northern Ireland protocol, with no new deadline set for finishing talks. “To provide space for potential further discussions, and to give certainty and stability to businesses while any such discussions proceed, the government will continue to operate the protocol on the current basis,” Frost said in a written statement. “This includes the grace periods and easements currently in force … We will ensure that reasonable notice is provided in the event that these arrangements were to change, to enable businesses and citizens to prepare,” he added. Grace periods marked to ease the shift into new trading arrangements and checks on the island of Ireland have twice been extended. Brussels withheld its formal agreement on the move. The EU will hold back from launching legal proceedings over the extension of the status quo, with a spokesman saying the European Commission is “not moving to the next stage of the infringement procedure launched in March 2021, and is not opening any new infringements for now”. Frost and Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin met over the weekend at a conference in Oxford and discussed the issue as well. At the conference, Frost urged the EU to take the UK’s proposals seriously and said it was seeking changes in three areas: the movement of goods into Northern Ireland, the standards for goods within the region, and the governance arrangements for that trade, according to British media reports.
Source: Fibre2Fashion
