The Union Minister for Textiles, Commerce and Industry and Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Shri Piyush Goyal, while chairing the 8th Meeting of the Mission Steering Group (MSG) of National Technical Textiles Mission (NTTM) here today, emphasized on the need for enhancement of collaborative efforts among the Government and industry to enhance indigenous development of technical textiles products. The Ministry of Textiles approved 11 project proposals, including 9 R&D projects, 1 project on machine development and 1 project on equipment development, worth approx. INR 103 crores. One of the projects focused on development of high-strength carbon fibre for strategic applications to make India self-reliant in the field of Technical Textiles The projects cover different application areas of technical textiles including 2 projects of Protech, 2 Meditech, 2 Mobiltech, 1 Buildtech, 2 Smart Textiles and 1 project of Sustainable Textiles. Amongst the approved projects, research projects were led by institutes and research bodies including CSIR-NAL, ATIRA, NITRA, IIT Delhi, ICT- Mumbai, NIT-Jalandhar, Colorjet India Ltd. among others. The Union Minister reviewed the progress of different components of National Technical Textiles Mission including review of sanctioned R&D products, status of applications under General Guidelines for Enabling of Academic Institutes in Technical Textiles Education in India (Round- II), implementation of Quality Control Orders issued by Ministry of Textiles, patents guidelines of R&D, Outreach activities and events under NTTM, amongst others. The Minister of State for Textiles Smt. Darshana Jardosh and Senior officials from Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Ministry of Heavy Industries, Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Jal Shakti, Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Department of Science & Technology, Department of Higher Education, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade and members from other Ministries, and eminent members from the industry attended the meeting.
Source: PIB
The initiation of the Trade Connect ePlatform has been announced by Piyush Goyal, Indian minister of commerce and industry, at the second meeting of the reconstituted Board of Trade at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi. This innovative platform aims to enhance the connectivity of Indian exporters and entrepreneurs with international trade stakeholders. The ePlatform, expected to be operational in 3-4 months, will provide new and aspiring exporters with crucial information on market regulations, sector trends, and benefits under free trade agreements (FTAs). Additionally, it offers access to sector-specific events and facilitates trade-related queries with expert advice from government officials and related entities, the ministry of commerce and industry said in a media release. Minister Goyal emphasised the significance of leveraging FTAs for India's benefit, particularly for startups and MSMEs, to expand their export activities. He highlighted the importance of internationalising goods and services to improve quality and achieve economies of scale, making exports a collaborative effort involving the states, centre, and industry. The meeting focused on reviewing export performance towards achieving the ambitious $2 trillion export target by 2030. Discussions included the priorities identified in the new Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2023 and strategies to enhance export growth. The reconstituted Board of Trade serves as a platform for regular discussions and policy advisement, involving state governments, UTs, industry bodies, and Export Promotion Councils. Key topics discussed during the meeting included India's import/export performance, leveraging FTAs, trade facilitation measures, and reforms in the patent system. State ministers also provided their suggestions and expressed commitment to fostering an environment conducive to external trade growth. The meeting was attended by minister of state for commerce and industry, Anupriya Patel, commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal, special secretary Sumita Dawra, director general of foreign trade Santosh Sarangi, and various state ministers, senior officials, and members of Indian Industry.
Source: Fibre2fashion
Indian industry has proposed the establishment of an Indian shipping line with global repute, so that current shipping lines cannot exert undue pressure during times of crisis. The recent surge in freight charges following the Red Sea crisis has alarmed Indian industries and exporters. They presented this proposal to Piyush Goyal, the minister of textiles and commerce and industry, during a Board of Trade meeting held on Tuesday. The suggestion for an Indian shipping line was made in response to the skyrocketing shipping charges resulting from the ongoing Red Sea crisis. This situation has adversely affected India's trade with Europe, the US East Coast, and parts of West Asia and Africa. Indian exporters have previously made this suggestion several times, but it has become more critical due to the unprecedented crisis in the global logistics sector. Currently, Indian exporters are dependent on foreign shipping lines, which indiscriminately increase freight charges at any opportunity. Amidst the current crisis, freight rates have risen not only for the Red Sea route or the detour via the Cape of Good Hope but for all routes. The industry has informed the government about this crisis. In the meeting, the Federation of Indian Exporters Organisation (FIEO) also emphasised the need to develop an Indian shipping line. It highlighted that the government has initiated steps to facilitate container manufacturing in the country, aiming for self-reliance. The Indian government has set a goal to increase exports to $1 trillion by 2030, which will boost the demand for shipping services for the transport of increased consignments. It is imperative to develop a large-sized shipping line in India, foreseeing a thriving logistics market in the coming decades. Exporters expect that with an Indian shipping line, global shipping liners will not be able to arbitrarily increase freight charges. An Indian shipping line could help contain soaring freight charges during times of crisis in vessel movement. The presentation to Goyal suggested that Indian private players could be engaged to develop such shipping lines, which would also reduce the influence exerted by foreign shipping lines, particularly on Indian MSMEs. There are estimates that if Houthi attacks continue and shipping movement remains disrupted, Indian exports could decline by $30 billion. Shipping charges have almost doubled on many routes, and various steep surcharges are being applied, such as peak season surcharges, Red Sea surcharges, and contingency surcharges, as reported by exporters in the meeting.
Source: Fibre2fashion
Ahmedabad: After two years of negotiations and persuasion, textile mills in Ahmedabad will finally get industrial wastewater at Rs 30 per kilolitre. The Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) and three major industry associations in the city have approved this price for drawing tertiary treated sewage water for industrial use, aiming to reduce reliance on groundwater, said sources in the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC). The AMC standing committee, which will meet today, will examine and approve the construction of a new sewage treatment plant (STP) with a capacity of 240 million litres a day (MLD) for Rs 335 crore, a new tertiary treatment plant with a capacity of 160MLD for Rs 509 crore, and a treated sewage storage tank for Rs 107 crore. The municipal commissioner has been delegated the authority to approve the proposal, and the supply of tertiary treated water will begin after the completion of these STP plants. The Narol and Danilimda industrial clusters, housing numerous small and medium-scale textile units, heavily rely on groundwater for dyeing, washing, and processing. dissolved solids further complicate wastewater treatment. The civic body officials met with the Ahmedabad Hand Screen Printing Association, Karnavati Textile Association, and Narol Textile Association last Nov and Jan 2 this year to understand their needs. All three associations require 160MLD of treated water daily. “We intend to replace the existing 106MLD capacity plant at Pirana with a new plant of 240MLD capacity for Rs 335.42 crore. Moreover, a tertiary treatment plant of 160MLD capacity will be constructed for Rs 509 crore,” said a senior AMC official. In addition to the STP and tertiary treatment plants, a distribution network for the treated sewage storage tank for Narol, Danilimda, and Karnavati textile associations will be established for Rs 107 crore, sources said. The total expenditure for these projects is estimated to be Rs 951.42 crore, with Rs 206.2 crore received as a grant and Rs 745.22 crore covered by gap funding. “Initially, the AMC’s consultant fixed the price for treated sewage water at Rs 32.50 per kilolitre. After negotiations, the price was finally settled at Rs 30 per kilolitre, with a 10% fluctuation clause. The prices will be revised according to the Wholesale Price Index,” added the official.
Source: Times of India
To incentivise the manufacturing sector and generate employment, the government may extend the scope of PLI scheme to include sectors like garments, jewellery and handicrafts in the forthcoming interim Budget, Deloitte said. Currently, Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme is available for 14 sectors. Deloitte India Partner Rajat Wahi said driving rural income is one of ways to deal with inflation and slack in consumption demand. "Today we have 14 sectors under PLI scheme, but a lot of these sectors do not generate massive employment. Leather, garment, handicraft, jewellery -- many of these sectors need PLI scheme to come in because they are the ones which are the highest employment generators. That will help lower income households as well as urban,"Wahi told PTI. Deloitte in its Budget expectations report said the government is expected to come out with measures to support sustainable growth in income amongst rural households, thereby boosting rural economy's disposable income. "One of the ways could be higher spending on building rural infrastructure or providing incentives that improve cash flow... Broadening the scope of PLI schemes to sectors such as chemicals and services can create demand for more manufacturing," Deloitte said. The PLI scheme was announced in 2021 for 14 sectors, including telecommunication, white goods, textiles, manufacturing of medical devices, automobiles, speciality steel, food products, high-efficiency solar PV modules, advanced chemistry cell battery, drones, and pharma, with an outlay of Rs 1.97 lakh crore. PLI schemes have witnessed over Rs 1.03 lakh crore of investment till November 2023, which has led to production/sales of Rs 8.61 lakh crore and employment generation of over 6.78 lakhs. As many as 746 applications have been approved in 14 sectors with expected investment of over Rs 3 lakh crore. The purpose of the schemes is to attract investments in key sectors and cutting-edge technology; ensure efficiency and bring economies of size and scale in the manufacturing sector, and make Indian companies and manufacturers globally competitive. Deloitte further said PLI schemes are also needed for space tech startups to boost local manufacturing and encourage capacity building within the country. This will help incentive domestic production and attract investment by providing financial incentives to manufacturers based on their output.
Source: Business Standard
The cooperation between India and Singapore in the field of green finance has a promising future, NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Suman Bery has said, asserting that the two countries can work within the framework laid out in the G20 New Delhi Leaders' Declaration on sustainable finance. The three-day Singapore visit of the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog's vice-chairperson came under the Distinguished Visitors Programme (DVP) of Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It aimed to strengthen bilateral ties and foster mutual cooperation across all levels, according to the foreign affairs ministry here. India and Singapore can make something quickly and important happen in terms of green finance-climate finance within the framework that has been laid out in the New Delhi Leaders' Declaration on sustainable finance, he said after concluding the visit to understand thinking among planners in the city-state. Adopted on September 9 last year, the G20 New Delhi Leaders' Declaration resolved to pursue environmentally sustainable and inclusive economic growth and development in an integrated, holistic and balanced manner, among other things. Green finance is a specific issue that I had a dialogue with here and provides a great deal of promise for the future, Bery said. During his visit from January 16 to 19, Bery held dialogues with major institutions in the city-state, including the Economic Development Board, the Urban Redevelopment Authority and the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Being here as a distinguished visitor gave me the freedom, at my request, to engage and interact with these institutions, he said. During a media interaction, Bery said that his visit was to understand how Singapore looks at the medium-term in Asia and how India could understand long-term thinking in the city-state. He noted that Singapore has pioneered artificial intelligence (AI) in Asia and plans to triple the pool of AI experts to 15,000 as part of the National AI Strategy 2.0 unveiled in December.
Source: Business Standard
LAHORE: Chairman All Pakistan Textile Mills Association North Kamran Arshad has urged trade and investment officers of the Ministry of Commerce to work for foreign direct investment (FDI) to the domestic textile industry, as Pakistan has huge potential to export all sorts of textile, footwear, and other products. According to him, duty-free access, identification of opportunities, development of linkages with industry, road shows, joint ventures, technology transfer to the country and lobbying for continuation of GSP Plus should be the top most priority of newly-appointed trade officers of Pakistan ahead. He was addressing to a 39-member delegation of officers selected from different occupational groups, the largest-ever batch, for posting in Pakistan missions abroad as consul generals, ministers, consular and attachés visited APTMA Lahore office on Thursday. Senior Vice Chairman APTMA Asad Shafi, Executive Members Haroon Elahi and Ismail Fayyaz, Energy Consultant APTMA Tahir Basharat Cheema and Secretary General North Raza Baqir welcomed the delegation. Earlier, the visiting delegate head had sought assistance and cooperation from APTMA to promote textile exports of the country and to explore investment potential in the sector. Exchanging views, the trade and investment officers underlined the need to hold regular online meetings with the APTMA members so that they could jointly explore trade and investment opportunities and create strong linkages between the business communities of Pakistan and the host countries. Speaking on the occasion, APTMA Chairman Kamran Arshad said that the textile sector alone represents 46 percent of the total manufacturing and around 40 percent of the total labour force. He spoke at length about the scope for joint ventures in MM fibers, denim, twill, drill, shirting materials, technical textiles. Other areas of cooperation may be Power Generation Plants, Logistics and Cargo, textile machinery Assembly / Manufacturing, he added. Chairman APTMA North said the Association has designed a USD 50 billion export plan through setting up 1000 garment plants. The total investment would be USD 7 billion generating annual exports of USD 20 billion and providing employment to well over 700,000 workers. Kamran said the trade and investment officers serving the country’s missions in over 50 countries can play an important role to boost exports. These officers should participate in all exhibitions and prepare reports for the trade associations and general exporters to help explore new markets and exploit trade opportunities, he suggested. He highlighted the issues confronting growth of the textile industry. He said cross subsidies should be removed and separate export-oriented industry tariff should be introduced to make export competitive. He also sought withdrawal of high import tariff and antidumping duties on PSF. According to him, sales tax refunds should be paid under FASTER within 72 hours and Export Facilitation Scheme (EFS) should be extended to the whole textile chain and supplies by indirect exporters may be allowed refund under FASTER. Also, he said, Income Tax and Sales Tax rates should be rationalised and turnover income tax should be abolished or reduced to half. He sale of certified high-quality seeds is to be ensured to uplift production. He said that the trade officers should undertake Made in Pakistan initiative through international road shows, virtual showcases & expos, physical show-rooms and outreach plans. He also sought development of E-market places, product portals and online marketplaces and introduce online collaboration platform and digital transformation. He said advocacy campaigns on various issues like technology adoption, innovations, quality improvement, R&D, compliances of GSP+ conventions & standards should be adopted by trade officers. He was confident that Pakistan’s exports can easily be enhanced by giving targets to trade/commercial officers and granting incentives to them upon achieving the targets. All the trade officers vowed to extend full facilitation to the Pakistani exporters and investors and to maintain close liaison with the trade and industry associations and chambers for efficient discharge of their duties. They assured that they would always be willing to maintain close liaison with the industry back at home and to bridge any gap between Pakistan and the businesses of the countries of their posting by quick electronic exchange of information. Asad Shafi stressed on brand development and the role of foreign missions in their promotion world over. He also extended a vote of thanks to the visiting delegation at the end of the meeting and expressed the confidence that all officers will ensure to avail all trade and investment opportunities during their overseas postings. Meanwhile, a 40-member important delegation of Trade and Investment Officers from Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) visited the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry. LCCI President Kashif Anwar welcomed the delegation and shed light on the issues ranging from Pakistan’s external trade, taxation system, economic scenario and private sector’s role in policy making. Director General Trade Development Authority of Pakistan Shahzad Rana was leading the delegation while LCCI Senior Vice President Zafar Mahmood Chaudhry also spoke on the occasion. President of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry Kashif Anwar said that high cost of doing business is one of the major hurdles coming in the ways of exports promotion. He said that Pakistani products have finest quality but are struggling in the international market due to high production cost. He said that energy is a major raw material of the industry but its high prices are jacking up the cost or production. He said that number of duties and taxes on energy sector should be brought down. The LCCI president also called to resolve the issues like non opening of LCs. He added that the role of trade and investment officers is very important to promote exports of the country. He said that market diversification is a key to achieve the desired goals. We have to focus on Africa and Central Asia to find new destinations for Pakistani goods.
Source: Business Recorder
The assessments of the general economic situation of Italy and the expectations on operating conditions of companies from January to March this year remain unfavourable overall, according to a survey conducted by the country’s central bank between November 22 and December 14 last year. Some improvement was, however, observed compared to the previous survey. The slight recovery in opinions was contributed to by a moderate recovery in domestic demand and less negative conditions for investing, especially in services, which are accompanied by the stability of expected investment spending. At the end of the year, the worsening of opinions on access to credit for all sectors eased and nine out of ten companies declared their liquidity conditions to be at least sufficient. For the first quarter of 2024, businesses expect employment growth to continue, the central bank said in a release. The price dynamics charged by companies has continued to weaken and is expected to weaken further over the next 12 months. Around two thirds of companies expect an increase in the hourly wages of their employees in the next 12 months and almost a third declare that they have already taken into account any future salary increases in their price lists during 2023. Consumer inflation expectations have fallen sharply across all time horizons, settling just below 2.5 per cent on short-term horizons and just above 2 per cent on long-term horizons. An overwhelming portion of respondents in the survey still saw a small or no likelihood of a cyclical upturn over January to March this year, broadly in line with the previous quarter. The improvement in sales was driven by domestic demand, while foreign demand remained weak. The gap between firms planning to hire and those expecting to reduce their staff widened slightly from the previous survey—from 8 to 11 percentage points. In the fourth quarter, the share of firms reporting difficulties associated with energy prices held stable in industry excluding construction and in services. However, the portion of firms planning to raise selling prices in the following quarter in response to high energy costs fell from the last survey, with a significant decline year on year. Consumer price inflation expectations fell sharply across all time horizons, returning to the same levels as in the second half of 2021 and just above 2 per cent. The average consumer price inflation rate is expected to be 2.4 per cent six months from now, down from 5.1 per cent in the previous survey, 2.3 per cent in 12 months (from 4.7 per cent earlier), 2.1 per cent in two years (from 4.2 per cent earlier) and 2.1 per cent over the three- to five-year horizon (from 3.8 per cent earlier).
Source: Fibre2fashion
Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) President Faruque Hassan said collective efforts are essential for the development of the backward sections of the society, especially the marginalized sections. Faruque Hassan said these at the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the expansion building of Community Based Resource Center (CBRC) in Syedpur on January 15. He said that marginalized people are constantly facing various socio-economic challenges and appropriate initiatives should be taken for them, which are not possible through individual efforts or initiatives. He further said that it is the collective responsibility of the government, businessmen and all the people of the society to come forward to face the challenges of the most vulnerable people in the society. The BGMEA president visited the Community Based Resource Center and observed the ongoing activities of the Centre, especially the education and skill training programs for marginalized groups, especially women. Faruque Hassan said that one of the main means of social development is education and skill development. Investing in education and skills development opens doors of opportunities and possibilities for marginalized people, empowering them with the skills and knowledge needed to break the cycle of poverty. Notably, the Community Based Resource Center (CBRC) established by Manabik Shahajya Sangstha (MSS) provides education and skill training to marginalized groups, especially women. Md. Fashiullah, Executive Vice Chairman of Microcredit Regulatory Authority and Sharmin Hasan Tithi, Director of Giant Group were present on the occasion along with others.
Source: Textile Today
Leading cotton trade organisation International Cotton Association (ICA) has announced the return of its international trade event and gala dinner to Liverpool. Scheduled for October 16-17, 2024, the event will be hosted at the Crowne Plaza Liverpool and the illustrious St George’s Hall. This prominent gathering is anticipated to draw over 500 delegates from across the global cotton community. The two-day event will feature keynotes from leading industry speakers and informative sessions under the theme ‘Cotton Connected’. Attendees will have numerous opportunities to network with professionals from various sectors of the industry, fostering connections and collaborations, ICA said on its website. The event will kick off with a 'Welcome' cocktail party on Tuesday, October 15, setting the stage for the main event. The highlight will be the Gala Dinner on Thursday, October 17, held in the St George’s Hall.
Source: Fibre2fashion
