Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal today asked stakeholders of the textile industry to strive to move up the value chain and focus on products of high value. He was interacting with the beneficiaries of the Production Linked Incentive Scheme (PLI) for textiles at a review meeting in New Delhi. He asked the beneficiaries to focus on improving the quality of textile products made in India to make them world-class. The USP of Indian textile industry must not be restricted to cheap labor, the Minister opined. He asked that textile sector workers be paid fairly, given social security and brought to the formal sector. Shri Goyal acknowledged the textile sector's inherent capability to create employment and drive both growth and exports and said that textiles was one of the sectors identified by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi as an industry with immense potential. The Minister said that the centre was looking at PLI 2.0 and instructed officials of the Ministry to undertake extensive and exhaustive stakeholder consultations before finalizing the contours of PLI 2.0. He asked them to make PLI 2.0 robust and emphasized that PLI 2.0 would empower the sector to compete globally with top exporting countries like China, Vietnam. The review meeting under the Chairmanship of Hon’ble Minister was attended by representative of 49 companies and key dignitaries of Ministry of Textiles. Under the PLI Textile Part 1, 67 applicants had applied out of which 64 were selected and out of these 64 companies 55 companies have formed participant companies. The proposed investment during the entire tenure of the scheme is INR 19,789 Cr out of which INR 1,536 Cr. has been invested so far. Review meeting was held to understand the implementation status of the projects under the Scheme and for resolving their issues. Companies complimented the Ministry for PLI scheme. At the meeting, several procedural issues were clarified for the sake of easy understanding. NICDC shared the ready availability of land with plug and play facility at Dholera, Aurangabad, Greater NOIDA and Indore. Minister also directed the Ministry team to actively engage with the participants and resolve state and administrative issues they faced. He urged textile industry players to work with a sense of duty, a 'kartavya bhavana', aim higher and dream bigger to take Indian textile industry to greater heights.
Source: PIB
Union Minister of Commerce & Industry Shri Piyush Goyal in a virtual meeting with H.E. Don Farrell, Minister of Trade and Tourism, Government of Australia noted that the early implementation of IndAus ECTA is in the best interest of both the countries. Meeting was held to discuss the status of ratification of IndAus ECTA (India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement), its early implementation and to deliberate upon way forward for a comprehensive IndAus ECTA. During the meeting both the delegations reviewed and appreciated the progress made in ratification of the IndAus ECTA, which was signed on 22nd April, 2022. The Australian Minister informed that the IndAus ECTA as well as the amendments to the domestic regulation of Australia for resolving the issues related to Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) had been introduced in the Australia Parliament and likely to be ratified shortly after the Joint Standing Committee on Treaty submits its report to the Australian Parliament. He further mentioned that the processes related to the ratification of the agreement will be completed in the following weeks. Both the parties acknowledged the importance of initiating discussions for the comprehensive IndAus ECTA, as agreed under IndAus ECTA signed on 2nd April, 2022. They agreed to hold the annual Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC) meeting sometime early next year. In the meantime, experts from both the sides will have their first round of discussions, which will lay a roadmap for the Joint Ministerial Commission meeting. Delegations noted that both nations share a special partnership based on mutual values of pluralistic parliamentary democracies, expanding economic strategic engagement and long-standing people to people ties. Meeting concluded with both the parties acknowledging the need to redefine their economic relations exploring the opportunities offered in trade and investment.
Source: PIB
India has rejected the imposition of anti-dumping duty on monoethylene glycol (MEG), a raw material used for Polyester Staple Fibre (PSF). Indian authorities had initiated an investigation in June 2021 after receiving complaints from domestic manufacturers Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and India Glocols Limited (IGL). The local textile industry has welcomed the development. India’s Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) issued a notification in this regard on October 27, 2022, in which the authority concluded that domestic industry is not suffering any material injury in terms of the provisions of the anti-dumping rules. Therefore, DGTR does not consider it appropriate to recommend levy of anti-dumping duty on the imports of MEG from the countries mentioned in the complaints. The investigation was initiated on June 28, 2021. The decision of DGTR will pave the way to keep the door open for domestic producers of PSF who import MEG from international markets. It will provide more options for domestic industry to source raw materials. MEG along with purified terephthalic acid (PTA) and MELT are major raw materials for PSF. RIL dominates the domestic market of PSF and its raw materials. DGTR’s decision will provide smaller players more room to do business. The Southern India Mills’ Association (SIMA) chairman Ravi Sam welcomed the move and said that MMF particularly the polyester would be the growth engine and job creating sector. He has stated that adequate availability of polyester staple fibre at an internationally competitive rate would fuel the growth of emerging technical textile segment. As the country started facing cotton shortage, several hundreds of spinning mills, weaving mills, knitting and garment capacities are switching over to polyester textile clothing manufacturing and thereby sustaining the financial viability of these segments apart from protecting the jobs of several lakhs of people, SIMA chairman added.
Source: Fibre 2 Fashion
The review meeting was attended by representative of 49 companies and key dignitaries of Ministry of Textiles. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, Minister urged the textile industry to move up the value chain and focus on products of high value during a review meeting of the PLI (Production-Linked Incentive) scheme for the textile industry and its beneficiaries Minister said the textile sector's USP should not be restricted to cheap labour; workers should be paid well and given social security. He instructed the textile ministry to ensure extensive and exhaustive stakeholder consultations before finalizing PLI 2.0. He asked the beneficiaries of the PLI scheme to improve the quality of textile products made in India to make them world-class. The Minister said that the center has been looking at PLI 2.0 and instructed officials of the Ministry to undertake extensive and exhaustive stakeholder consultations before finalizing the contours of PLI 2.0. He asked them to make PLI 2.0 robust and emphasized that the second edition of PLI for textile would empower the sector to compete globally with top exporting countries like China, and Vietnam. The review meeting was attended by representatives of 49 companies and key dignitaries of the Ministry of Textiles. Under the PLI Textile Part 1, 67 applicants applied, of which 64 were selected. The proposed investment during the entire tenure of the scheme is Rs 19,789 Cr out of which Rs 1,536 Cr. has been invested so far. This meeting was held to understand the implementation status of the projects under the Scheme and for resolving their issues. Companies complimented the Ministry for the PLI scheme. At the meeting, several procedural issues were clarified for the sake of easy understanding. NICDC shared the ready availability of land with plug-and-play facilities at Dholera, Aurangabad, Greater NOIDA and Indore. Goyal also directed the ministry team to actively engage with the participants and resolve state and administrative issues they faced. He urged textile industry players to work with a sense of duty, a 'kartavya bhavana', aim higher, and dream bigger to take the Indian textile industry to greater heights.
Source: Zee Biz
Revenue for October is second highest monthly collection, next only to April 2022 The government collected Rs 1.52 trillion as goods and services tax (GST) in October, a 16.6 per cent rise year-on-year, driven by festival-related spending, higher tax rates, and better compliance. This was the second-highest monthly collection since the implementation of the indirect tax regime in July 2017. GST collection touched a record high of Rs 1.67 trillion in April. Of the total gross GST mop-up in October, central GST (CGST) was Rs 26,039 crore, state GST (SGST) Rs 33,396 crore, integrated GST (IGST) Rs 81,778 crore (including Rs 37,297 crore collected on import of goods), and cess was Rs 10,505 crore (including Rs 825 crore collected on import of goods), according to the provisional data released by the finance ministry on Tuesday. “This is the ninth month —and the eighth month in a row — that monthly GST revenue has been more than Rs 1.4 trillion,” the ministry said. In September 2022, as many as 83 million e-way bills were generated compared to 77 million in the previous month. Economists expect CGST collection to exceed the FY23 Budget Estimates by Rs 1.3-1.4 trillion. “The sharp sequential pick-up in the headline GST collection in October reflects a combination of quarter-end flows relating to the transactions in the previous month, as well as the surge in GST e-way bills ahead of a robust festival season. With the festival season in October, the generation of GST e-way bills is expected to have remained high, which should bolster the collection in November,” said Aditi Nayar, chief economist, ICRA. Nayar said the dip in the YoY growth in GST collection in October was expected given the normalising base, and may continue for the next few months. “We continue to expect CGST collection to exceed the FY2023 BE by Rs 1.3-1.4 trillion,” she said. The Budget 2022 set the CGST target of Rs 6.6 trillion, excluding compensation cess. Further, the total revenue of the Centre and the states, after regular as well as ad hoc settlements, in October was Rs 74,665 crore for CGST and Rs 77,279 crore for SGST. Major states have reported an increase in collections, indicating that it is a broad-based phenomenon across the country. State-wise collection showed an increase of 18 per cent compared to the year-ago period. “While the festival season aided the GST collection, the increased administration by both the Centre and states have also boosted the revenue growth,” said Saurabh Agarwal, tax partner, EY India. “With both the revenue wings (CBDT and CBIC) charged with increasing tax collection, healthy collection can be expected in the coming months too. The self-sustained economy seems to be trending with a further decline in tax collection on imports due to various fiscal policies of the government,” Agrawal added.
Source: Business Standard
As the deadline for importing duty-free cotton in India was met yesterday, an industry body has urged the government to extend the period for duty-free cotton imports to November 30. Recent disruptions in global supply chain have delayed the India-bound cotton imports from Australia and US. It is to be noted that the government had decided to waive the import duty on cotton till September 30, 2022, when the new season began, and the period was later extended till October 31. Now, the Cotton Association of India (CAI) has urged textile minister Piyush Goyal to further extend the period for another month. CAI has said that shipments of already concluded cotton import contracts to India have left the ports of supplier countries i.e., Australia and the US, which are currently stuck in transit. Acute shortage of containers also added to the problems of the importers. According to CAI, the shipments will be delayed by about four weeks in reaching the Indian ports. Extension in period of duty-free import will facilitate the importers to receive the natural fibre as per government’s policy. It will also mitigate the sufferings of Indian importers. However, cotton prices dropped around 44 per cent from its peak of ₹108,000 per candy of 356 kg. According to industry sources, it will be very difficult for the government to decide on the request when peak arrival season is set to begin in India. Cotton prices are expected to further drop when arrival increases in the weeks to come.
Source: Fibre 2 Fashion
Apart from base effect, credit to industry got a big boost from MSMEs; among sectors, petroleum, gems & jewellery, engineering, iron & steel, and construction were key drivers Credit to industries in September 2022 grew at the fastest pace it has grown in the last 100 months, aided primarily by a pick-up in working capital loans from corporates. According to the latest sectoral deployment data of the Reserve Bank of India, credit to industries, which accounts for 27.6 per cent of non-food credit, was up 12.6 per cent year on year to Rs 32.4 trillion. Nonthon month, it rose 1.4 per cent==the highest in seven months. On a year-to-date basis it was up 2.7 per cent. Apart from the base effect, credit to industry got a big boost from micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Credit to small and micro firms grew 27.1 per cent YoY and that to medium-sized firms grew 36 per cent. Credit to large industries grew 8 per cent YoY during the same period. Among sectors, petroleum, gems & jewellery, engineering, iron & steel, and construction were the key drivers of industry credit growth, while food processing, cotton textiles (down 0.9% MoM) and roads (down 0.3% MoM) partially offset the accretion. “Working capital loans, which had come down drastically during Covid, are expanding. And, there has been a shift from capital markets to banks for credit demand of industry. Inflation too has played a major role in propelling the credit demand from the corporate side. Lending to NBFCs has also picked up from last year. So, a combination of these factors is supporting the pickup in credit growth to industries. However, it is still too early to say whether the capex demand is picking up at a similar pace,” said Prakash Agarwal, director and head, financial institutions, India Ratings and Research. Corporate credit growth is mirroring the overall credit growth seen in the economy. The RBI’s latest data suggests that bank credit grew at 17.9 per cent, a multi-year high, compared to 6.5 per cent a year-ago. According to Suresh Ganapathy & Param Subramanian of Macquarie Research, unlike in the past cycles, credit growth this time around is very broad based. “Retail loan growth has been driven by strong growth in both secured as well unsecured loans. Loans to industry and services sector have been strong and sectors like cement and steel which were seeing deleveraging have now been consistently posting increasing credit growth. Going by the bounce rates data, the debit bounce rates are at the lowest level in the past ~4years indicating very strong asset quality outcomes as reflected in the credit costs of banks reporting this quarter,” they said in a report. Analysts at ICICI Securities have suggested that India Inc, after undergoing a phase of deleveraging over the past few years, is now better positioned to embark on releveraging. Recovery in economic activity, derivative effect of increased investments and spend on consumption may sustain the momentum of over 12 per cent growth, going forward. “We believe revival in consumer demand, rise in private capex followed by rise in government spending can be triggers for industry credit growth and these could turn out to be key catalysts for overall credit growth revival,” they said in a report. However, industry insiders suggested that sustainability of such high credit demand from the industry will depend on the economic activity and there are some headwinds in that direction. Interest rates are fairly high, and they are likely to go up further. So, if the demand tapers, then such credit growth is difficult to sustain.
Source: Business Standard
Australia has informed that the free trade agreement with India has been introduced in its parliament and it is likely to be ratified shortly, the commerce ministry said on Tuesday.The India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement ECTA signed in April needs ratification by the Australian parliament before its implementation. Australia has informed that the free trade agreement with India has been introduced in its parliament and it is likely to be ratified shortly, the commerce ministry said on Tuesday. The India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) signed in April needs ratification by the Australian parliament before its implementation. In India, such pacts are approved by the Union Cabinet. The issue came up for discussion during a virtual meeting between Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Australia's Minister of Trade and Tourism Don Farrell. Goyal noted that early implementation of the agreement is in the best interest of both the countries. The ministry said the meeting was held to discuss the status of ratification of the pact, its early implementation and to deliberate upon the way forward for a comprehensive IndAus ECTA. ''The Australian Minister informed that the IndAus ECTA as well as the amendments to the domestic regulation of Australia for resolving the issues related to Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) had been introduced in the Australia Parliament and likely to be ratified shortly after the Joint Standing Committee on Treaty submits its report to the Australian Parliament,'' it added. After ratification, both the sides will implement the pact from a mutually agreed date. He mentioned that the processes related to the ratification of the agreement will be completed in the following weeks. Both the parties acknowledged the importance of initiating discussions for the comprehensive agreement, as agreed under the ECTA. They agreed to hold the annual Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC) meeting sometime early next year. In the meantime, experts from both the sides will have their first round of discussions, which will lay a roadmap for the JMC meeting. The agreement, once implemented, will provide duty-free access to the Australian market for over 6,000 broad sectors of India, including textiles, leather, furniture, jewellery and machinery. Goyal had earlier said the agreement would help in taking bilateral trade from USD 27.5 billion at present to USD 45-50 billion in the next five years. Under the pact, Australia is offering zero-duty access to India for about 96.4 per cent of exports (by value) from day one. This covers many products that currently attract 4-5 per cent customs duty in Australia. Labour-intensive sectors which would gain immensely include textiles and apparel, few agricultural and fish products, leather, footwear, furniture, sports goods, jewellery, machinery, electrical goods and railway wagons. Australia is the 17th largest trading partner of India, while New Delhi is Canberra's 9th largest partner. India's goods exports stood at USD 8.3 billion and imports aggregated to USD 16.75 billion in 2021-22. India is pitching for an early amendment of the regulations on the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) to stop the taxation on the offshore income of Indian firms providing technical support in Australia.
Source: Development Discourse
Under this programme, India Exim Bank provides credit enhancement to trade instruments, thereby augmenting the capacity of commercial banks / financial institutions to undertake cross-border trade transactions involving markets where trade lines are constrained, or where the potential has not been harnessed. Export-Import Bank ofIndia (India Exim Bank) has concluded a Master Risk Participation Agreement for supporting trade transactions with FirstRand Bank (FRB) Limited. The agreement was signed in Johannesburg on Monday on the sidelines of the India - Southern Africa Regional Conclave, in the presence of. Silvino Augusto Jose Moreno, Minister for Industry and Commerce, Mozambique, Jaideep Sarkar, High Commissioner of India to South Africa and Busi Mabuza, Board Chairperson, Industrial.
Source: Economic Times
The Aachen – Dresden – Denkendorf International Textile Conference (ADD-ITC) 2022, which will be held in December 2022 in Germany, aims to enable interaction between research institutions and the textile industry. Experts on textile chemistry, finishing and functionalisation, textile machinery, and manufacturing and composites will gather for discussions at the event. The event, which will take place on December 1-2, 2022, at Eurogress Aachen in Germany, will hold sessions addressing the following topics: sustainability in the textile industry; future of textile production; textiles for medicine and health; smart textiles and fashion; textiles – past and future; technology transfer (IGF-ZIM projects); and textile developments by start-ups, the organiser said in a press release. Representatives from Sweden and Finland’s textile industry as well as from research institutions and associations will provide a comprehensive insight into the textile landscape of this year’s partner countries. Plenary speakers at the conference are Giuseppe Gherzi, Gherzi Textil Organisation; Dieter Gerten, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) e. V.; Ali Harlin, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland; Patrick Glockner, Evonik Operations GmbH; Pauline van Dongen, designer; Susanne Nejderås, University of Boras; and Carlo Centonze, HeiQ. Keynote speakers at the event are Lutz Walter, ETP - The European Technology Platform for the Future of Textiles and Clothing; Geza Szilvay, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland; Ellinor Niit, imogo AB; Anna Palmberg, IKEA of Sweden AB; Frank Thomas Piller, RWTH Aachen University; Verena Thies, Thies GmbH & Co. KG; Johannes Diebel, Forschungskuratorium Textil e.V.; Robert Peters, VDI/VDE Innovation + Technik GmbH; Rebecca Tauer, WWF; Joerg Kleinalstede, mezzo-forte Streichinstrumente; Florent Budillon, ADMEDES GmbH; Andreas Blaeser, TU Darmstadt; and Stefanie Seeberg, University of Cologne and GRASSI Museum of Applied Arts. Trendsetting design, technical innovations, sustainability, and diversity will be staged in multimedia by the team of Neo.Fashion and the Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences.
Source: Fibre 2 Fashion
Bangladesh’s apex garment makers’ body – Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has recently signed a deal with the Korea Federation of Textile Industries (KOFOTI), aimed principally at promoting trade and investment, particularly in the apparel and textile sector, of the two countries. According to reports, BGMEA President Faruque Hassan and KOFOTI Chairman Sang Woon Lee signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in this regard at Seoul recently even as the BGMEA Chair on his part underlined South Korea is one of the emerging markets for Bangladesh in the East Asian region while adding, “We have identified innovation, diversification and technological upgradation as the key strategic priorities for our future growth,” even as he opined a collaboration between Bangladesh and South Korea is crucial as such. The MoU includes more cooperation in the areas of exchange of information and discussion of trade issues between South Korea and Bangladesh, further maintained reports while also adding the collaboration also seeks to promote direct or joint venture investments from South Korea to Bangladesh in high-end garment items, non-cotton textiles, woven textiles and garments, and skills development and innovation.
Source: Apparel Resources
Fashion industry stakeholders convened for the Circular Textiles Roundtable hosted at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City by the Fashion Impact Fund and Lenzing Fibres. Representatives from the co-founding organisations of World Circular Textiles Day (WCTD), including Circle Economy (Netherlands), Centre for Circular Design (London), and Worn Again Technologies (UK), together with Lenzing Fibres (US) and in collaboration with the United Nations Conscious Fashion and Lifestyle Network hosted the Circular Textiles Roundtable. Lenzing Fibres describes the United Nations Conscious Fashion and Lifestyle Network as a UN-hosted online platform for industry stakeholders, media, governments, and UN system entities to showcase collaborations that accelerate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Participants were brought together to create a textiles circularity roadmap to 2050, identifying key milestones for transitioning from the current linear model of “make, use and waste” to a circular one. The roadmap template will be released in the coming months and will be used as a foundation for integrating existing industry circularity and decarbonisation commitments, Lenzing Fibres says. The scale of change required to transition to a fully circular textiles industry is immense but can be broken down into achievable phases. The Roadmap aims to focus industry activities on aligned activities that will “accelerate circularity momentum” while supporting the industry in reaching its climate targets and delivering against multiple UN Sustainable Development Goals. Overall, Lenzing Fibres says the group expressed a desire to see more partnerships established at a greater pace. They also noted a lack of information and action around the social innovation potential for the circular textiles industry and requested more information on realistic and fair proposals for transformation. Founder of Worn Again Technologies and Co-Founder of WCTD, Cyndi Rhoades, said: “The scale of change required to transition to a fully circular textiles industry is immense but can be broken down into bite-sized and achievable phases and delivery plans. “Designing and aligning on circular strategies for implementation and action across the industry today is crucial for achieving future goals and delivering beneficial outcomes for society, economics and the environment in equal measures. “Convening these committed industry leaders to evolve collective knowledge and strengthen relationships is a crucial step in fast-tracking necessary change.”
Source: Circular Online
UK’s apparel imports from India stood at $1.046 billion in January-August 2022 which is close to the imports of $1.094 billion in the entire 2021. The imports this year are likely to surpass the pre-COVID level of $1.487 billion in 2019. The imports may increase further in the coming years once the bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) is implemented. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and newly appointed UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak recently agreed on taking forward the negotiations for the comprehensive UKIndia free trade agreement. UK’s apparel imports from India had dropped to $0.973 billion in 2020 from $1.487 billion in 2019. The country had imported apparel worth $1.667 billion in 2018 and $1.482 billion in 2017, according to Fibre2Fashion’s market insight tool TexPro. Apparel imports from India in the current year have already crossed the $1 billion mark in the first eight months of this year and are therefore on track to touch the 2019 level. It is also likely to cross the $1.667 billion mark of 2018, the highest for apparel imports from India. However, monthly imports have been declining in the recent months. The imports increased to $208.023 million in May 2022 from $141.834 million in April 2022, but decreased to $125.502 million in June, $119.517 million in July and $97.838 million in August 2022, as per TexPro. High inflation, less demand and a weak economy are affecting the imports of textile products in Europe as well as the world. UK is also reeling under the pressure of critical challenges. It may affect imports of discretionary products including apparel and other textile items.
Source: Fibre 2 Fashion
Pakistan Apparel Forum (PAF) Chairman Jawed Bilwani on Tuesday lamented decline of 16.56 percent in textile exports in October 2022, and said the sector would deteriorate further if the government left its issues unattended. Textile exports declined to $1.335 billion in October 2022, down 16.56 percent from $1.60 billion during the same month last year. Resultantly, the growth rate of textile export has also declined, which had witnessed 26 percent increase during last fiscal year, he added. Total national exports were recorded to the tune of $31.76 billion in FY2021-22 in which total textile exports were approximately $19.4 billion with a historic increase of 26 percent, he said, while pointing out that Karachi had bagged 50 percent share within that. Bilwani said that if the government had ensured uninterrupted supply of energy/gas, exports would have enhanced more than 26 percent, as more than 40 allied industries of textile had also excelled in growth and performance during last year. However, all this was now conditional to the government honouring the new textile policy, continuation of regionally competitive energy tariffs (RCET) for both power and gas, release of sales tax refunds within 72 hours after approval of RPOs, and uninterrupted supply of power and gas. “Raw materials and accessories, machinery and spare parts which are being imported should be allowed without any impediment and permissions to import whatsoever,” Bilwani demanded. Another major factor of decline in textile export is discontinuation of DLTL, which has been made part of the Five Years Textile Policy, like previous policies, but the commitment has not be fulfilled. “Continuation of DLTL and swift refunds of sales tax against exporters’ claims hold the key to enable exporters to achieve their export target without facing any liquidity problems and pressure,” the chairman said. He asked the government to consider “these genuine issues faced by the value-added textile industry” and to resolve the problems of the industry or else the value-added textile exports would face further decline in exports each coming month. This, he said would ultimately have a negative impact on the economy, sustainability, and development of Pakistan. He appealed to the prime minister, finance minister, commerce minister and economic team of the government of Pakistan to take a serious view of the state of affairs, and order immediate remedial measures to save the backbone of the nation’s economy.
Source: The Hindu
