Emergency credit guarantee scheme helped save 1.46 mn MSMEs: Report
PM Gati Shakti to help reduce logistic obstacles, improve efficiency: DPIIT
Business confidence recovers from lows: NCAER
Chatroom: 'Export duty is not part of the price paid or payable for goods'
Startup Policy encouraging the development of entrepreneurship in J&K: Govt
Concessional 22% corporate tax rate still not popular
Rajasthan govt signs agreements for investment worth Rs 1.36 trillion
Budget 2023: What will help India ship $1 trillion worth of goods?
Centre looking at decriminalising some IBC offences
INTERNATIONAL
Bangladesh e-commerce player Qcoom signs agreement with BEXIMCO
ITA announces new dates for Interwoven Textile Fair to ‘better serve’ industry
Fashion in 2023 – where sustainability requires more than simply being sustainable
Textile Mills Association demands demurrage charges waived
Robust new deposition method for smart fabrics
RIFIL Launches Infinity® Yarns with Regel
NATIONAL
The emergency credit line guarantee scheme (ECLGS), launched during Covid to help small businesses tide over losses due to lockdowns, has helped save at least 14.6 lakh MSMEs which benefited from Rs 2.2 lakh crore in additional credit, a report said on Monday. According to an SBI Research analysis, this additional credit flow has saved around 12 per cent of the outstanding MSME (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) credit from slipping into NPAs. In terms of people, it saved the livelihood of at least 6.6 crore people, the report said. The ECLGS has helped in boosting credit flow to MSMEs with at least 14.6 lakh of them being saved due to the scheme. In absolute terms, loans worth Rs 2.2 lakh crore were flown into MSMEs from banks during the scheme. This means that around 12 per cent of the outstanding MSME credit has been saved from slipping into NPAs because of the scheme, and saving the livelihood of 6.6 crore people, SBI chief economist Soumyakanti Ghosh said in the report. The report also noted that there is evidence of MSME units becoming larger with several units crossing the threshold of Rs 250-crore turnover and turning into mid-sized corporates by the new definition of MSME units. With the change in MSME definition, in 2020 the government mandated all the MSMEs to register under the Udyam portal, which according to the report, is the way forward for the sector. A total of 1.33 crore MSMEs have Udyam certification now. As against this, the number of GST registration is only 1.40 crore. The government recently launched Udyam assist platform, developed by Sidbi (Small Industries Development Bank of India), to bring all the informal micro enterprises into the formal ambit, which constitute around 99 per cent of MSMEs. According to the report, the Udyam portal could potentially result in an MSME revolution and their entry into the ambit of formal credit mechanism and can result in around 50 million such micro units. Besides, states like Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra could benefit with 2.6 crore registrations of such micro units. The country has around 64 million MSMEs as against 140 million in China. As per NSS 73rd round survey (2015-16), there were 6.34 crore MSMEs in the country, of which 6.30 crore or 99.47 per cent of the total were micro units, 3.3 lakh enterprises were SMEs and just 10,000 were medium units. Of the total, as much as 3.25 crore enterprises or 52.3 per cent are in rural areas and the rest 3.09 crore enterprises or 48.8 per cent are in urban areas.
Source: Business-standard
Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal today said large Companies must take responsibility to handhold MSMEs, help them adapt best practices and integrate them into the supply chain ecosystem. He was speaking at the fourth Plenary Session of B20 India Inception Meeting on Building Resilient Global Value Chains in Gandhinagar today. Shri Goyal noted that MSMEs flourish around a larger unit or anchor. Citing an example, he said, as Apple's manufacturing plant comes up, thousands of MSME units flourish in the ecosystem as mini value chain suppliers to Apple. He also said that MSMEs have more practical solutions, day to day experiences, and having learnt the hard way, are able to adapt to circumstances better than large companies. He said large Companies must be sensitized to handhold MSMEs associated with them. We must also try to make it easier to operate for small companies, eliminate unnecessary paperwork, make custom processes simpler, and use technology to ease and simplify processes. He pointed out that Singapore has been playing an important role as a trading hub and suggested that a study can be done to figure out what Singapore has been doing right and based on this a basic framework can be created for supporting MSMEs. It may involve Infrastructure development, addressing challenges of logistics, he added. He also said MSMEs bring trust to the table, which is the most important element of any value chain be it domestic or international. On integrating India with Global value chains, Shri Goyal said if we do not harmonize our value chains with the rest of the world, or if we don't create logistics which are easier and faster, it would be difficult for international companies to get India into its value chain. To become a trusted and resilient partner in global value chains, Shri Goyal said, the Government is also focusing on creating an enabling ecosystem, that is simpler, faster and promotes ease of doing business. He said the focus of the government is on trying to make our country accept Quality as a most important factor in the success story of india. He emphasized that setting global benchmarks, harmonizing Indians standards with global standards, and consumers becoming more demanding of quality are essential for India to become a global key player. Shri Goyal said India faced covid crisis with exemplary resilience, which has been recognized world over. He said India is one of those countries that through the entire period of covid pandemic never let down a single business commitment. Every service commitment was met without any disruption, there was not a single day of power failure, energy shortage, no law and order problem, he added. On India-UAE CEPA agreement, Shri Goyal said that MSMEs of both the countries will be the biggest beneficiary of this agreement. Both the countries are engaging with each other and exploring opportunities to meet the needs of each other countries. He said, India is in dialogue with some of the larger companies of UAE to leverage best out of CEPA. On, district as export hub initiative of the Government, Shri Goyal said it is inspired by the Prime Minister’s idea to recognize every district for their unique products and identify the speciality of districts by knowing which district exports which products. He said, under the initiative today, exports from each district of the country are mapped and figures of exports from each district are known. This database of each district is now being used to promote these products across the world. For example Morbi is recognized for ceramic exports, Tripura exports pineapple and Bihar exports litchi, he said. He said the government is looking at each district and its potential to emerge as an export hub. It is coordinating at district and state levels to see how businesses can be connected with world markets, making each district realize their role in value chains. Shri Goyal urged Industry to recognize global efforts to tackle climate change and take up the responsibility of becoming conscious and sustainable in their business practices.
Source: PIB
The PM GatiShakti initiative will play a significant role in reducing the logistics cost, increasing efficiency and benefitting businesses, a top government official said on Monday. On October 13 last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Gati Shakti- National Master Plan aimed at developing an integrated infrastructure to reduce logistic costs. All logistics and connectivity infrastructure projects, entailing an investment of over Rs 500 crore, are routed through the NPG (network planning group), constituted under the PM GatiShakti initiative. PM GatiShakti "will play a significant role in reducing the logistic obstacles and increase logistics efficiency and benefit the businesses," Secretary in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Anurag Jain said here at the inaugural session of B20 Inception Meeting, organised by industry body CII. He also said that the PM GatiShakti portal has over 1,600 data layers related to subjects such as land, forest, mines and existing infrastructure. The NPG has representations from various connectivity infrastructure ministries/departments involving their heads of network planning division for unified planning and integration of the proposals. The PM Gati Shakti is aimed at breaking departmental silos and bringing in more holistic and integrated planning and execution of projects with a view to addressing the issues of multi-modal and last-mile connectivities.
Source: Business-standard
Business confidence has recovered from the lows of the pre-pandemic (2019-20) and the following two pandemic years, though sentiments continued to soften sequentially in the three quarters of the current fiscal, economic think-tank NCAER said. The NCAER-NSE Business Confidence Index (BCI) was higher at 126.6 in the third quarter of 2022-23 than the yearago's level of 124.4. "However, sentiments continued to soften sequentially in the first, second and third quarters of 2022-23," it said. The National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) further said sentiments relating to macro conditions remained relatively buoyant in the third quarter of 2022-23 as compared to the second. The share of positive responses increased for the component 'overall economic conditions will improve in the next six months' and remained unchanged for the component 'present investment climate is positive'. In contrast, sentiments pertaining to firms' own conditions softened between the two quarters for the components -- 'financial position of firm will improve in the next six months' and 'present capacity utilisation is close to or above the optimal level', the think-tank said. NCAER carried out the 123rd Round of its Business Expectations Survey (BES) in December 2022, with support from the National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE). The think-tank has been carrying out the BES every quarter since 1991, covering 500 firms across four regions.
Source: Economic times
Q. Our client regularly exports raw rice, which attracts 20 per cent export duty now. How can we recover this duty amount from our buyer? Should we raise a separate invoice for the duty amount, or can we show it as a separate item in our USD invoice to the buyer? If we show the duty as a separate item, we fear it may add confusion in preparing the Shipping Bill. If the duty is shown as a separate item, will there be differences in the amount outstanding in EDPMS and actual realisations, especially when the buyer chooses to settle the invoice amount in parts? In your case (per Section 14 of the Customs Act, 1962) the transaction value is the price paid or payable for the export goods when sold for export from India, for delivery at the time and place of exportation, where the buyer and seller of the goods are not related and price is the sole consideration for the sale. The export duty is not part of the price paid/payable for the goods. It is paid to the government by you and collected from the buyer, the same way that in a domestic transaction, the buyer is charged a certain sum for the supply of goods and the GST amount is shown separately in the invoice and the aggregate amount including the GST amount is collected from the buyer. Similarly, you must show the export duty amount separately in the invoice and collect the aggregate amount from the buyer (whether in one or more instalments). Your Customs broker should have no difficulty in filing the shipping bill.
Q. Our foreign buyer has settled long-outstanding dues along with an additional amount towards interest for late payment on their own. This extra interest amount is not backed by any invoice from our (ie, the exporter’s) side. How can we give disposal instructions to the bank for foreign inward remittance and what about the Purpose Code? You can use the purpose code P0104, which is for “receipts against export of goods not covered by the GR/PP/SOFTEX/EC copy of shipping bill etc.” I can’t think of a more appropriate code.
Q. Our foreign buyers want multiple invoices but a single consolidated Bill of Lading. The issue is that one shipment has a FOB term and the other two invoices bear CFR and CIF Incoterms. Possibly they will resell to different end-users at the discharge port country. Could we (the Indian exporter) make it a reality? The bill of lading (BL) is issued by a shipping company or its agent to evidence receipt of goods and contract of carriage. It can act as a title to the goods depending on how it is made out. An invoice is evidence of the description and quantity of goods sold, the unit price and the amount payable. There is no requirement that there must be a separate BL for each invoice. A BL can cover a number of invoices.
Source: Business-standard
Jammu and Kashmir government is building an encouraging ecosystem for nurturing innovation and start-ups in the Union Territory with liberal funding. Under the ‘J&K Startup Policy 2018-2028’, the UT administration aims to nurture and inspire the young and entrepreneurial brains of Jammu and Kashmir to pursue innovation and entrepreneurship by creating a vibrant and conducive start-up environment in the region. Some focus sectors have been identified under this policy which inter alia included Construction and Engineering, Food Processing and Allied activities, Agriculture including Horticulture and Floriculture, Textiles, Apparel and Fashion Technology, Renewable Energy, Handicrafts and Handlooms and their design element, Electronics System Design and Manufacturing besides Information Technology enabled services among others. The main objective of ‘J&K Startup Policy 2018-2028’ is to facilitate and nurture the growth of at least 500 new start-ups in Jammu and Kashmir in the next 10 years. The objective also includes establishing at least 10 new state-of-the-art incubators including the private sector, facilitating access to early-stage investments for aspiring and existing start-ups, setting up innovation labs in selected Higher Secondary Schools and Colleges and setting up at least three fabrication labs, one each in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh regions besides creating a strong institutional framework for effective implementation, monitoring and evaluation of this policy. The policy also focuses on innovative projects like ideas capable of introducing new or disruptive technology in the development of existing and new products, processes or services, capable of addressing any of the present challenges before the society at large in an effective manner. The policy also provides a special focus on start-ups, the promotion of platforms like start-up hubs, incubators, angel investors, innovation labs, Entrepreneurship Development Cells and Fabrication Lab among others. The Jammu and Kashmir Entrepreneurship Development Institute (JKEDI) has been declared the nodal agency for the implementation of the policy and the Director JKEDI has been designated as the UT nodal officer. The policy also provides various benefits and incentives to the entity recognized as a start-up. The government provides co-working space with uninterruptible high-speed internet to the selected recognized start-ups at a subsidized price through JKEDI at its campuses in Pampore and Bari-Brahmana and all the 22 district centres besides a monthly allowance of Rs. 10,000 (for a period of one year) is also being paid to the start-ups. Similarly, startups are provided one-time assistance of Rs 10 Lakh for Product Research and Development/Marketing/Publicity. The scheme also has the provision of a 100 per cent subsidy on the purchase and installation of Diesel Generator set Solar/Wind Generator or Hybrid Solar Wind Systems to recognised start-ups. Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha, recently asked all stakeholders to focus on the affordability, and sustainability of innovative products and the creation of industry innovation clusters to encourage young entrepreneurs and drive job creation. “Under the guidance of Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, India’s Startups are making their place in the global market. India is now ranked third in the world in terms of innovation and start-ups after US and China,” the Lieutenant Governor said. Notably, J&K featured among the five ‘top performers’ in the start-up India States’ ranking 2021, scoring high on parameters like incubation support, institutional support and fostering innovation and entrepreneurship. Considerably, the start-up ecosystem in J&K comprises of local versions or mimics of national players like Ola, Uber, Amazon, Flipkart and Zomato as these unicorns have minimal presence in the region in terms of service areas or penetration level.
Source: Greater Kashmir
The concessional corporate tax rate of 22% introduced in 2019 is still to be chosen by large sections of India Inc. This is because many companies, including large ones, find either the Minimum Alternate Tax regime or higher corporate tax rates of 25% or 30% coupled with exemptions and incentives more attractive, in the final analysis. Another deterrent is that opting for the concessional regime is irreversible and companies cannot move back to the old regime again, in case they plan any expansions in the future and wish to take advantage of any deductions. According to official data, of the 0.92 million corporate returns filed in 2019-20, 0.145 million firms with income of Rs 9.33 trillion opted for the 22% tax rate (25.168% with surcharge and cess). “…15.85% of the companies having 62.01% of the total income have opted for the new tax scheme under section 115BAA and 0.14 % companies opted for taking benefit under section 115BAB of the Act (in 2019-20). It reflects an encouraging trend towards adoption of the new concessional tax regime by the companies and a simultaneous move away from the deduction and exemption regime,” said the Budget document for 2022-23. In a bid to promote growth and investment, the government had in 2019 slashed the corporate tax rate to 22% for domestic companies, provided they do not avail any exemption or incentive. They would also not have to pay MAT, which is currently applied at 15% (plus surcharge and cess) on book profits. Tax experts say that on evaluating the concessional tax rate, many companies have opted to continue with their earlier tax regime. Sandeep Bhalla, Partner, Dhruva Advisors said it is largely the smaller companies or service sector companies that choose the concessional 22% tax regime. Large manufacturing companies or those which are more capital intensive prefer paying tax under the old regime as even if they are subjected to MAT, which is viewed more as cash flow issue, they are able to utilise the MAT credit in subsequent years. “Overall, with the surcharge, the effective tax rate of the concessional regime is a little more than 25% versus an effective tax rate of 20% under MAT,” he said. Sandeep Jhunjhunwala, M&A Tax Partner, Nangia Andersen LLP said the deductions to be foregone to claim the concessional tax rate made the proposition less lucrative for industry players for whom these deductions mounted up to significant numbers. “For such taxpayers, it was a choice between claiming the benefit of the delta of a meagre 3% by foregoing the deductions versus paying taxes at 25% on income after claiming the deductions,” he said, adding that capital-intensive industries lose out on the benefit of additional 20% depreciation on investments made in plant and machinery. Giving up deductions also comes with the restriction to carry forward and set off of past year losses attributable to such deductions which in some way has a roll back effect and could entail higher cash outflows under the new regime. In addition, lapse of accumulated MAT credit, which is more likely in companies having accumulated losses under normal tax provisions, is a dampener. Companies operating out of SEZs cannot claim the income linked deductions under Section 10AA in order to switch to the new regime. “Hence, a deduction that could have been claimed over a period of 15 years subject to satisfaction of certain conditions, would have to be discontinued in order to opt for the new 22% tax regime,” he said. Further, the concessional rate is to be opted at an entity level. This can be a disadvantage for companies with multiple SEZ units which are in different years of operation. They would have to wait for completion of the exemption window for all their SEZ units before they can opt for the new regime. The effective corporate tax rate was 22.54% in 2019-20 as against 27.81% in 2018-19. The Budget document attributed the significant reduction in effective tax rate to the fact that a significant number of companies with higher profits had shifted to the new tax regime provided for existing companies under section 115BAA. The effective tax rate of companies with profit before taxes of over Rs 500 crore is 20.19%, which is lower than all the companies having profit before taxes below Rs 500 crore. “This highlights that the larger companies are availing the higher deductions and incentives or have shifted to the new regime of lower tax rate of 22% plus cess and surcharge,” it said. In all, there are four corporate tax rates prevailing in India at present. Apart from the 22% concessional rate, there is a 15% concessional rate for new domestic companies incorporated on or after October 1, 2019 and commencing production by March 31, 2024. A 25% rate is levied on domestic companies with a total turnover or gross receipts during the previous year of up to Rs 400 crore. A 30% tax is applicable on all other domestic companies. The concessional rate is subject to a host of conditions like not claiming tax holiday meant for Special Economic Zone units, benefit of accelerated depreciation, or benefit of additional depreciation, investment allowances, expenditure on scientific research etc.
Source: Financial express
The Rajasthan government on Monday signed agreements for investment worth Rs 1.36 lakh crore in the state. The investment was committed under Invest Rajasthan, which was held in October last year. Agreements of 26 projects related to industires, energy, tourism and other sectors were signed at the chief minister's residence. Nearly 17,000 people will get employment from these projects being set up in different districts of the state, according to a statement. Chief minister Ashok Gehlot said on the occasion that the policies of the state government have facilitated the process of setting up industries in the state. "The condition of law and order, road infrastructure, electricity etc is quite good in the state. Due to the public welfare policies of the state government, there is no situation of labour unrest in the state," the statement quoted the chief minister having said. Gehlot said that agreements worth about Rs 11 lakh crore were signed in the Invest Rajasthan Summit, out of which 49 per cent agreements are being implemented. "The success of the Invest Rajasthan Summit shows the confidence of the industry in the state," he said. During the programme, representatives of various companies signed pacts with the officials in the presence of the chief minister. Industry minister Shakuntala Rawat and other officers were also present.
Source: Business-standard
India's exports witnessed unprecedented growth over the last two years, reaching a record high of $420 billion during the financial year 2022. India achieved this growth despite disruptions in the global supply chain due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The growth is heartening, but the country still has immense potential. It contributes 3.1% to global GDP but lags behind in export share with only 1.6%. Can India achieve the target of $1 trillion in manufacturing exports by 2028 or before that? While all eyes are on the February 1 budget, here’s what industry experts and exporters want: RoDTEP in focus: The Remission of Duties and Taxes on Export Products (RoDTEP) Scheme, which became effective January 1, 2021, replaced the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) with the sole aim of boosting exports. The scheme allows exporters to receive refunds on the embedded central taxes and state duties that were previously non-recoverable on input products. The budget under RoDTEP is around Rs 40,000 crore. Exporters have requested an increase in this in the budget According to Mumbai-based exporter and Chairman of Bombay Textile Research Association, Sharda Kumar Saraf, RoDTEP is an important tool to support export marketing, but its present budget limit of about Rs 40,000 crore is inadequate. "We hope the finance minister will take cognisance of this fact and provide a suitable budget for RoDTEP," Saraf said.
Customs duties: Exporters want high import duties on finished goods in specific sectors. According to Plastics Export Promotion Council of India Chairman Arvind Goenka, the import duty on plastic finished goods should be at least 5% higher than that of polymer raw materials. critical inputs for leather garments and footwear; and the extension of the basic customs duty exemption for the import of lining and interlining materials. Leekha has also requested the reinstatement of basic customs duty on the import of wet blue, crust, and finished leathers, as the exemption was removed last year. India’s own shipping line: Once again, the country’s exporting community has asked the Centre to give support to developing an Indian shipping line of global standards. India's dependence on global shipping companies has remained a major pain point for exporters, and the problem has been exacerbated further by rising freight costs. The Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) asserted that there was a need to encourage large Indian entities to build an Indian shipping line of global repute as it would help reduce dependence on foreign shipping lines, and the government could provide support for that in the budget.
More PLI schemes: The PLI schemes have been specifically designed to provide support to domestic manufacturing in the sunrise and strategic sectors, reduce imports, improve the cost competitiveness of domestically manufactured goods, and enhance domestic capacity and exports. The schemes cover sectors such as automobiles and auto components, specialty steel, telecom and networking products, and electronic/technology products. The government is considering proposals to extend the Rs 35,000-crore PLI scheme to other sectors such as leather, bicycle, some vaccine materials, and certain telecom products, with an aim to boost domestic manufacturing and create jobs, a government official said. PLI (production-linked incentive) benefits are also being considered for toys, some chemicals and shipping containers, which could further give impetus to exports.
Fiscal support and marketing: Exporters have asked the government to pay heed to its longstanding demand for the creation of a fund and offering credit at affordable rates, in the budget. These measures could achieve the twin objective of boosting exports and creating jobs. Depreciation of the rupee against the US dollar was affecting exports' competitiveness, and due to that, the sector requires more support. "Creation of employment is the biggest challenge faced by the country....We would urge the government to provide fiscal support to units that provide additional employment in the export sector," said the federation, adding that this would also assist workers in transitioning from informal to formal employment. The FIEO also pointed out that due to global headwinds, most Indian companies have been reducing their marketing expenditure, which might hurt the visibility of Indian products in the international market. "The support given under the Market Development Assistance (MDA) scheme, with a total allocation of less than Rs 200 crore, for promoting exports to $460-470 billion is just a drop in the ocean. Therefore, for aggressive marketing, there is a need for the creation of an Export Development Fund with a corpus of minimum 0.5% of the preceding year's exports," it added.
Source: Economic times
The government has proposed the decriminalisation of several violations under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) to further improve the ease of doing business and speed up corporate failure resolution. The move is in line with the government's initiative to clean up the statute book to decriminalise minor offences and switch to monetary penalties. A similar process has been carried out in the laws for companies In a discussion paper floated last week, the ministry of corporate affairs proposed to empower National Company Law Tribunals (NCLTs) and Debt Recovery Tribunals (DRTs) with powers to penalise anyone who violates the IBC. These violations are currently handled by special courts through criminal proceedings. The proposed amendments will apply to violations falling under Section 235A of the IBC, which says criminal proceedings can be initiated against anyone over contraventions for which the code doesn't specify the penalty. Violations such as promoters not cooperating with liquidators or resolution professionals (RPs) filing frivolous cases don't have any penalty prescribed in the code.
Legal experts hail move These would fall under Section 235A, involving criminal prosecution. "In furtherance of the central government's policy to decriminalise offences in business law statutes wherever feasible, it is felt that Section 235A should be converted into a civil penalty," said the discussion paper. Legal experts welcomed such a move. "Rather than involving the criminal law machinery, NCLTs, DRTs dealing with the relevant insolvency, bankruptcy process are better placed to deal with the breach and will be able to provide for consequences of the breach swiftly," said Dhananjay Kumar, partner, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas. "This will cover not only promoters but also persons breaching the moratorium, officers and directors of the corporate debtor involved in misfeasance or misconduct, and resolution applicants in breach of resolution plans." Currently, anyone failing to comply with the IBC can be subject to a fine of Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 crore through criminal proceedings if the violation has no other penalty prescribed, experts said. Under the proposal, NCLTs and DRTs can impose a penalty of Rs 1 lakh per day or three times the unlawful gains, whichever is higher.
Frivolous applications "The proposed amendment to the IBC, wherein the adjudicating authority will be empowered to impose penalties for filing a frivolous or vexatious application will certainly expedite the resolution process and shall keep busybodies at bay," said Ruby Singh Ahuja, senior partner, Karanjawala & Co. This proposed shift from a criminal to a civil penalty could effectively bring more cases under the penalty threshold. "While in case of a criminal proceeding, the test of 'beyond reasonable doubt' needs to be satisfied before imposing punishment, in civil proceeding, the test that needs to be satisfied is that of 'preponderance of probability'," said Chirag Nangia, partner, Nangia Andersen. "One would hope that once implemented, the NCLT, DRT use these provisions sparingly and only in situations where there is a flagrant abuse by parties."
Source: Economic times
INTERNATIONAL
One of Bangladesh’s e-commerce platforms, Qcoom.com, which brings all daily essentials, grocery items and lifestyle products, has recently signed a bilateral agreement with Akash Digital TV of BEXIMCO Communications Limited. As part of the deal agreements are made between the two companies through the Business to Business (B2B) model. As per reports, the agreement was signed by the Head of Finance and Planning at BEXIMCO Communications Limited Zia Hasan Khan, and the Managing Director and CEO of the Qcoom.com Ripon Mia. The senior officials of both the organisations including Kamaluddin Ahmed, Director and operation, (Qcoom.com) Sirajul Islam Rana, head of commercial, Ariful Haque, head of media and communication, amongst others were present at the signing ceremony.
Source: Textile world
Noting that the changes were made to better serve the industry and increase show accessibility, ITA confirmed the following dates:
“The goal of the ITA is to advocate for our members and help them grow their company visibility,” said Kathryn Richardson, president of the ITA board of directors and vice president of sales for Libeco. “We heard from many stakeholders of the Interwoven Textile Fair by ITA that the dates of our show would be better serving of the exhibitors and buyers alike if we made some changes to the dates. “We anticipate continued interest and growing attendance at our shows and will continue our collaboration with the industry to make them a successful investment.” Additionally, ITA announced that the organization’s biannual meeting will now be held two weeks in advance of the show via Zoom, beginning with the spring 2023 event. Upcoming dates for the member meeting are:
Source: Home textiles today
The fashion industry has always been dynamic and ever-evolving, with trends influencing what each season looks like. In recent years, sustainability has become the latest must-have trend, pushing brands to accommodate an increasingly environmentally-conscious consumer. But for a truly sustainable future, fashion brands and retailers must look beyond their environmental impact. Lawmakers, globally are looking at the industry in terms of its social and human impact. With a constant push to promote the circular economy so that the most polluting industry generates lesser or no waste over time, stringent laws have been brought into place to hold brands accountable. At a summit last week in Gran Canaria, European Fashion Alliance (EFA) discussed measures aimed at encouraging a more sustainable and inclusive future for the fashion industry. The EFA believes that sustainability and digital transformation, together with innovation, education and labour market measures, will be the drivers for the fashion industry to make textiles more durable, repairable, reusable and recyclable. Moreover, the botched system of accountability within the industry leaves room for social and environmental neglect, which emphasises the need for increased focus on transparency in supply chains. Companies like FibreTrace, a pioneer in traceable fibre technology, are setting precedent in this regard. They recently launched a cloud-based mapping tool which works with any fibre, material, certification, document and data. The company has made the product ‘free of charge’ in a bid to encourage the apparel and textile industry to claim accountability and responsibility for their supply chains. Simultaneously, there are reports being published like Zero Waste Europe’s (ZWE) Beyond Circular Fashion with advisory models for brands. ZWE has outlined the paradigm fast fashion works on, holding the industry responsible for “overconsumption, resource depletion, social exploitation, fossil-based fibres, and greenwashing.” The report marks four key criteria building on the best practices in the European market, which when applied simultaneously, could be considered key to identifying what a virtuous business model that goes beyond circularity would look like. With an array of resources, updated guidelines on ESG, and an altered destination towards circularity, the ball is now in the court of brands, leaving them to devise a plan on how to move forward sustainably and with compliance.
Source: The just-style
Textile Mills of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are facing significant difficulties due to the non-availability of foreign exchange in the State Bank of Pakistan and commercial banks, resulting in a significant number of consignments being stuck at ports for clearance. Afan Aziz, Chairman of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Textile Mills Association (KPTMA), said that it was causing a financial burden on the mills as they were being charged huge amounts of demurrage and container detention charges by the relevant port authorities, container terminal companies and shipping companies. He said the KPTMA had written letters to the federal minister for maritime affairs and the Ministry of Finance requesting a waiver of demurrage charges.
Source: The news
A durable copper-based coating developed by Dartmouth College researchers in Hanover, New Hampshire, USA can be precisely integrated into fabrics to create responsive and reusable materials such as protective equipment, environmental sensors and smart filters. The coating responds to the presence of toxic gases in the air by converting them into less toxic substances that become trapped in the fabric, the team reports in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS). The findings hinge on a conductive metal-organic technology or framework developed in the laboratory of Katherine Mirica, an associate professor of chemistry at Dartmouth. First reported in JACS in 2017, the framework was initially a simple coating that could be layered onto cotton and polyester to create smart fabrics which the researchers named SOFT – self-organised framework on textiles. Their earlier paper demonstrated that SOFT smart fabrics could detect and capture toxic substances in the surrounding environment. The researchers have now found that instead of the simple coating, they can precisely embed the framework into fabrics using a copper precursor that allows them to create specific patterns and more effectively fill in the tiny gaps and holes between threads. The framework technology has effectively converted the toxin nitric oxide into nitrite and nitrate, and transformed the poisonous, flammable gas hydrogen sulphide into copper sulphide. It also withstands wear and tear, as well as standard washing. “The versatility and durability of the new method allows the framework to be applied for specific uses and in more precise locations, such as a sensor on protective clothing, or as a filter in a particular environment,” Mirica said. “This new method of deposition means that the electronic textiles could potentially interface with a broader range of systems because they’re so robust. This paves the way for other applications for the framework’s combined filtration and sensing abilities that could be valuable in biomedical settings and environmental remediation.” The technique could also eventually be a low-cost alternative to technologies that are currently cost prohibitive and limited in where they can be deployed, needing an energy source, or rare metals such as in catalytic converters in vehicles. “Here we’re relying on an Earth-abundant matter to detoxify toxic chemicals, and we’re doing it without any input of outside energy, so we don’t need high temperature or electric current to achieve that function,” Mirica said.
Source: Innovationin textiles
Momentum Textiles & Wallcovering, the commercial interiors industry’s largest supplier of contract textiles and wallcoverings, is pleased to announce Paul Cleary as its new president and CEO, effective immediately. Cleary aims to bolster the company’s long-standing commitment to innovation, sustainability, and collaboration. Cleary most recently held the role of Senior Vice President of Healthcare at global flooring company Mohawk Group, where he worked for more than 15 years in various capacities. Cleary also has an impressive track record of C-Suite experience, serving as CEO & President at Twitchell Technical Products. Prior to his work at Twitchell, Cleary was President of Hospitality at Tarkett Hospitality— a role he held following a previous term as CEO at Lexmark Carpet, where he worked with H.I.G. Capital to lead the firm’s successful exit and secure the company’s acquisition by Tarkett. “It is an honor to take over as CEO and lead the talented team at Momentum,” said Cleary. “I am looking forward to continuing the commitment to sustainability and innovation that has resulted in Momentum being one of the most reputable textile and wallcovering brands in the world.” Cleary’s team at Momentum will have a strong focus on curating solutions for all commercial interior markets, specifically providing exceptional ground-up design capability, color flexibility and running-line options to service all aspects of the industry. “Paul brings years of leadership and skills to Momentum at a time when we are primed for growth,” stated Meranee Phing, Senior Partner, The Riverside Company. “His proven ability to drive successful commercial growth strategies coupled with his unique industry knowledge will elevate Momentum to new heights.” Cleary is a Business Administration and Management graduate of Trinity College Dublin and a Business Management and Marketing graduate of the Technological University Dublin. Born and raised in Ireland, Cleary now resides in Atlanta, Georgia. He plans to divide his time between his home city and Momentum’s corporate headquarters in Irvine, California.
Source: Textile world
RIFIL Group, is launching a new range of environmentally friendly worsted yarns called Infinity® with GRS® certification, which is made with recycled acrylic fibre, Regel™. The new high-performance yarn will be launched in the trade show of Pitti Filati – Florence, Italy in January this year. Infinity® by RIFIL, is made of recycled acrylic fibre, Regel™. Infinity® is a top-performing recycled yarn suitable for all end applications. It is developed to preserve all the key properties: natural hand-feel, vibrant shades, color brightness, comfort performances with a GRS certification along with transparency and traceability from waste to retail. RIFIL Group is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of acrylic and Wool Blend Yarns with up-to-date technology and quality of production, based in Romania. REFIL produces 20,000,000 kg of thread every year for fashion, knitwear, fabrics that are resistant to weathering and sunlight, as well as indoor & outdoor furniture. “I am delighted to be launching a sustainable yarn range made of recycled acrylic fibre. This enables us to make a step into a circular direction that helps conserve natural resources without compromising the end-product performance,” says Olmo Falco, Group Manager RIFIL Group. “We know that Circular Economy is at the core of ABG group sustainability strategy and TAF is part of it. So, we fully trust on their high-performance materials which will help drive Infinity® to be a new sustainable alternative to our customers”, added Mr. Falco. “We are excited to see RIFIL upcycling Regel™ into high-performance & quality yarn. With REFIL’s knowledge & technology combining with Regel™, we believe that this will drive the development of high-performance Infinity® to positive change within the industry and customers’ expectation,” says Tuhin Kulshreshtha, Head of Marketing, TAF. Regel™ is made from recycling acrylic waste – It is manufactured with an authentic and intimate chemical recycling process which is functionally equivalent to acrylic fibre like warmth, comfort, and vibrant shades. Regel™ is a GRS certified acrylic fibre and bluesign® APPROVED.
Source: Textile world
