Mumbai: Maharashtra has registered 28% increase in receipts under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime in financial year 2017-18, compared to 2016-17, State Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said on Sunday. Total tax receipts for 2016-17 were ₹90,525.19 crore, which rose to ₹11,5940.23 crore in 2017-18 after the implementation of the GST. “The performance of Maharashtra is not only encouraging in terms of numbers, but more money in the State treasury would also mean the government will be able to spend on developmental and infrastructure works,” said Mr Mungantiwar, while addressing a gathering of State and Central government officers deputed to work on GST. According to a presentation made during the event, the first quarter of 2018 has shown an increase of 39.5% in GST collected, compared to last year. In April-June 2017, total tax collection in the State was ₹25,742.57 crore, which increased to ₹35,915 crore in April-June 2018. There are 14,45,574 GST account holders in the State, of which 4.9 lakh are registered with the Central authority and 9.55 lakh with the State sales department. Maharashtra also tops the list in implementation of the e-way bill system, which is an electronically generated document for the movement of goods worth over ₹50,000 from one place (State) to another. Mr. Mungantiwar announced that the minimum will now be increased to ₹1 lakh. He also said textiles will be excluded from the e-way bill system within the State. The State government also claims to have approved 77.68% applications for GST returns, adding the numbers are encouraging for traders as well. As per government data, the department received a total of 13,235 applications for GST returns amounting to ₹2,636 crore. Of these, 10,281 applications seeking refunds worth ₹2,258 crore have been sanctioned. Mr. Mungantiwar said, “We received complaints on several issues while implementing GST over the last year. In a bid to bring more transparency, the government ensured it talked with all stakeholders and solved the problems.”
Source: The Hindu
The garment exporters in Tirupur are having a contented feeling as Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami exclusively took up the major grievances in the cluster with the Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu. This was following the recent communication of the exporters here with the State Government highlighting the issues that hindered the growth of the cluster during the just ended 2017-18 fiscal year. The Chief Minister had requested the Union Minister to take up the request for enhanced interest subvention from 3 % to 5 % for the apparel sector. This apart, the exporters’ plea for increasing the duty drawback to remain cost competitive in the global markets was also highlighted. The exporters in Tirupur cluster were also struggling to get a level playing field in European and American apparel markets due to the preferential trade tariff advantages enjoyed by Bangladesh and few other direct competitor countries. For this, the Chief Minister had suggested for steps to expedite signing of free trade agreements with European Union, United States of America and United Kingdom.
Source: The Hindu
The proposed hike in MSP for crops, based on 1.5 times the A2+FL costs, in the case of rice and cotton especially, is likely to hit India’s exports considerably. In the case of paddy, where the MSPs will rise by 13.5% due to the new formula, this will take the cost of finished rice to around Rs 26,651 per tonne. Once transport costs of 5% are added to this to take it to Kandla port, it becomes marginally more expensive than the existing global prices. If the rupee falls to below 67 to the dollar, on average for FY19, the competitiveness gets further eroded. Last year, India exported $7.8 bn of rice. Matters are even worse in the case of cotton, where on average, prices will rise by a whopping 28%, from Rs 40,200 per tonne for kapas to Rs 51,600 per tonne. Given the conversion ratio of around 33%, this means the prices of finished cotton will rise to Rs 156,364 per tonne as compared to the current global price of around Rs 125,553 per tonne, based on a Rs 67 per dollar exchange rate. At this price, India’s cotton exports will be hit badly, though the fact that the rupee is depreciating will cushion the fall a bit, says DK Nair, former secretary general of Confederation of Indian Textile Industry. Since two thirds of all fibre used in India — both for local and exports market — is cotton, Nair says this will have a knockdown effect on exports of both textiles and readymade garments as well. India exported $19.3 bn worth of cotton, cotton-based textiles and readymade garments in FY18. Gautam Nair, MD, Matrix Clothing, one of India’s largest garment exporters expressed the same fears. “Garment exporters are already reeling under high yarn and dye and chemical prices. If, on top of that, the price of basic raw material (cotton) is raised substantially in 2018-19, it will have very, very significant negative impact on our apparel exports.” IJ Dhuria, director (raw materials) at Vardhman Textiles, India’s largest spinning mill says raising the cotton MSP will benefit farmers and may not hit cotton exports too much immediately since China has slapped an additional 25% import duty on American cotton and the rupee has also depreciated against the dollar. If the import duty is reduced and/or the rupee corrects, he says, India’s cotton exports will be hit. “Also, high raw material prices will erode the competitiveness of our textile and garment exports vis-a-vis competitors. It may prompt some players to explore the possibility of imports”, he added.
Source: The Financial Express
Tirupur Exporters’ Association (TEA) today urged textile mills to ‘save’ the knitwear garment export sector as cotton yarn price increase by Rs 20 a kg had made it difficult to sustain themselves in a competitive global environment. “The beleaguered knitwear export sector has been passing through a challenging business environment further to implementation of GST, which led to a continuous decline of knitwear exports month on month basis since October 2017 after completion of three months transition period, TEA president Raja M Shanmugham said in a release. Stating that the decline in exports for the second half yearly period of 2017-18 was 21 per cent, he said the most worrying factor was that the negative trend in exports growth was continuing in the current fiscal alsoThe average of knitwear exports in April and May was 34 per cent, he said. Stating that the sector was now only booking orders and that business has now started to look ahead and was poised to bring back the industry from the brink after a prolonged one year period lull, he said the increase in yarn prices now would derail the industry. This would lead to not only the sector getting affected, but also having a boomerang effect on textile mills, he said. The TEA President said he had already met Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani over the issue, with a request to mandate that Cotton Corporation of India ensure availability of enough quantity with desired quality to protect the interests of farmers, the textile industry and also to generate employment. The impact of the price increase has made textile mills increase yarn prices which ultimately affect downstream value added sectors like weaving, knitting, garmenting and made ups, particularly value added exporters, as they could not hike the price, fixed more than three to five months back,he said.
Source: The Hindu BusinessLine
New Delhi : Union Minister Arun Jaitley said on Sunday that the best of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is yet to come. The Government is celebrating July 1 as GST Day as it was on this day last year that India ushered in its biggest indirect tax reform since independence. GST subsumed 17 indirect taxes and 23 cesses from both the Centre and States. Now, the new system prescribes one rate for all goods or services throughout the country, making the nation a unified market. “I’m confident that the best of GST in terms of its contribution to society is yet to come,” Jaitley said, while addressing GST Day Celebrations here through a video conference. Jaitley had earlier called GST a ‘disruptor.’ However, his thinking has changed now. He said that he had seen experiences of countries all over the world where GST caused a major disruption. “I myself used to use the word disruptive when it came to major reform like GST because it takes time to settle down. But after one year I’m not too sure whether I can use the word disruptive for GST reform,” Jaitley said, adding that the smooth manner of the changeover is almost unprecedented anywhere globally. Listing out the remarkable successes that GST has achieved in a short span of one year, he said that the reform has created a unified market, cascading of taxes has been eliminated and the weighted average of the total taxation basket has come down. The GST Council is working on continuous rationalisation of tax slabs, and advance direct tax payments have increased as a result of successful implementation of GST, he added.
Better collection expected
He said the total indirect tax collection for the 9-month period in the previous financial year after implementation of GST is about ₹8.2 lakh crore, which, if extrapolated for the whole year, comes to about ₹11 lakh crore, an 11.9 per cent increase in indirect tax collections. Meanwhile, the Government announced on Sunday that GST collection in June stood at ₹95,610 crore. This is slightly higher than the ₹94,016 crore for May but lower than the ₹1.03 lakh crore of April. Speaking on the occasion, Interim Finance Minister Piyush Goyal said that this reform has put an end to illegal activities like tax evasion by simplifying the tax administration and bringing a transformation in the culture among trade and industry in the country towards faithful payment of indirect taxes. He also said that the government is proposing to bring in an amendment during the Monsoon Session to hike the turnover threshold to ₹1.5 crore under the composition scheme. At present the limit is ₹1 crore and traders or manufacturers who opt for this scheme just need to pay GST at the rate of 1 per cent but without input tax credit. Goyal also asked the Finance Secretary to explore whether composition assessees can be allowed to file returns on an annual basis. Present norms prescribe filing of returns by such entities on a quarterly basis.
Source: Business Line
Union Minister Arun Jaitley today dismissed the idea of a single GST slab being advocated by Congress President Rahul Gandhi as “flawed”, saying that it can only work in a country where the entire population has similar and high capacity to spend. The minister, in an article on 'The GST Experience' on completion of the first year of rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), also exuded confidence the GST Council would look into rationalisation of the taxation structure after stabilisation of the collections. Jaitley, who was the Finance Minister when the GST was introduced, is currently without a portfolio and is recuperating from a kidney transplant operation. “Rahul Gandhi has been advocating a single slab GST for India. It is a flawed idea. A single slab GST can function only in those countries where the entire population has a similar and a higher level of paying capacity. “Being fascinated by the Singapore model is understandable but the population profile of a state like Singapore and India is very different. Singapore can charge 7 percent GST on food and 7 percent on luxury goods. Will that model work for India?,” the Minister questioned. Since the GST is a regressive tax, the poor have to be given a substantial relief, he said, stressing that most of food items – agricultural products and the Aam Aadmi used products have to be tax exempt while some others have to be taxed at a nominal rate. “The others could be taxed higher. Eventually, as the collections improve, many more items from the 28 percent category can possibly come down. Only sin products and luxury goods can remain there. “There would also be a scope again, depending on the collection going up, to merge some of the mid category slabs but for that we have to see the progress of the new tax regime and the possible upward movement in the collections,” the minister said. Observing that there is always scope for improvement, he said “key areas of future action will include further simplifying and rationalising the rate structure and bringing more products into the GST. I am confident that once revenue stabilises and the GST settles, the GST Council will look into these carefully and act judiciously.” Referring to the issue of levying GST on petroleum products, Jaitley said that while the UPA kept petroleum products permanently outside GST, “we brought them back into the Constitution as leviable to GST and can gradually impose the GST when the GST Council so decides. “For this I would continue to make my earnest efforts and hopefully when the states are more comfortable with the revenue position, it would be an ideal time to strike for a consensus between them.” He further said that while Gandhi and former Finance Minister P Chidambaram have repeatedly demanded that petroleum products be forthwith brought within the GST, the finance ministers of the Congress-ruled states were against it. “When I speak to the Congress Finance Ministers' in the states, they don't seem to be ready for it. But what was the UPA's own track record on petroleum products in the GST? The Constitution amendment proposed by the UPA permanently kept all petroleum products outside the GST,” he said. Jaitley further said that he used the inclusion of petroleum products as a bargaining issue with the states while conceding the Central Sales Tax (CST) and compensation payment to the states. “I worked out a formulae that petroleum products would be included in the Constitution amendment providing for the GST but the council can decide the date from which to bring them into GST. The states agreed,” he said. He further said that when the GST was to be launched on July, 1, 2017, the government was advised by the Congress to postpone it. “A reluctant government can never take reformist decisions. We went ahead. At the initial stage, we fixed the first set of rates. A large number of requests started coming from trades, industry and, therefore, we started rationalising the rates,” he added. The minister took comfort from the fact that the country witnessed “the smoothest switch-overs in one of the largest tax reforms in the country. All the check-posts disappeared overnight. The system of input tax credit ensures that disclosures are made. “The GST has encouraged enormous voluntary tax registration. Detailed calculations done in this year's Economic Survey show that as of December 2017, about 1.7 million registrants were those who fell below the GST threshold but nevertheless chose to be part of the GST. Similarly, more than 50 percent of those who could have chosen to opt for the simpler composition scheme chose to register under the regular GST scheme,” the Minister said. As regards the all powerful GST Council, Jaitley said, it is “India's first experience at cooperative-federalism based decision-making authority. We cannot afford to risk a failure and, therefore, it is functioning as to arouse confidence amongst all states. The meetings have always been consensus based. “The only area where unanimity seems to be lacking is the television bites that some ministers' give after the meeting, which may be necessary for their own political position. I am willing to live with the experience of a healthy debate and unanimity within the Council and a show of dissent outside the Council meetings,” Jaitley added.
Source: Money Control
New Delhi : Exporters, especially the micro, small and medium players, have been the worst hit after the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime was rolled out last year, due to blocked refunds of the Integrated GST (IGST) and the input tax credit (ITC). However, things seem to be finally improving, thanks to two recent clearance drives by the government. However, software glitches are still slowing things down, especially for ITC refunds, exporters say. Filing errors and entry mismatches in GST returns and refund claims is also a problem. During the second refund drive, which took place between May 31 and June 16, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) claimed to have refunded ₹6,087 crore. A total of 1.68 lakh shipping bills were processed during the period, and IGST refund claims of about 9,293 exporters were sanctioned, including those of about 3,500 whose dues had been held up, the CBIC said. The total GST refund disposed till June 16 stands at ₹41,548 crore, it added. Ganesh Kumar Gupta, President of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations, said the special efforts by the Centre and the States to release the refunds had helped ease the liquidity constraints of exporters. The CBIC’s assurance that the momentum gained during this fortnight would carry on has also pleased exporters. Gupta said it was heartening that the tax authorities would continue to be in disposal mode even after the drive period.
ITC refunds: a pain point
The Fieo chief, however, pointed out that sticking points remained in the area of claims for ITC refunds. In a statement, Gupta urged that the software for such refunds be modified immediately so that those exporters who have filed ITC claims in months different from when they exported, could file their applications. Such exporters have been awaiting their claims for the last 11 months. Gupta also suggested that the government move to a wholly online system for ITC refunds, on the lines of the IGST, to reduce transaction time and costs.
Procedural hitches
The differences in the amounts entered in the IGST returns filed by exporters and the refunds claimed have also resulted in the blocking of refunds. Exporters say the discrepancies crept in as they were not very sure about the refund process in the initial period when returns were filed and the new rules were being getting notified continuously. According to the CBIC, efforts are being made to resolve those issues that are still pending, but exporters need to ensure that the correct procedure of filing returns, giving accurate information in shipping bills and submitting the RFD01A application forms to the jurisdictional formations are followed for quick disbursal of their refund claims.
Source: Business Line
NEW DELHI: Small and medium businesses, which perhaps took the biggest hit from the rollout of the goods and services tax (GST), are back on track but want simpler filing processes, less stringent rules and improved administration in year two of the landmark tax regime change. “We initially faced some problems because of our products coming under different GST slabs,” said Bhuvan Thapar, manager of Thapar Knitwear in Connaught Place. “There were teething troubles but now things are back to normal as we're complying with new regulations.” Their compliance costs have, however, gone up with rise in accounting expenses and more managerial time spent on filing and refunds. “We should be allowed to revise our returns,” said Raju Kakkar, a wholesaler of sanitary fittings, also suggesting quarterly filing. “Some traders have had to pay major amounts in tax and apply for refunds later because of minor errors in filing returns. We have to spend too much time dealing with GST.” PHD Chamber of Commerce president Anil Khaitan said, “We need only one extremely simple GST return to be filed per month and the government should reduce the number of slabs to two rates (from five).”
Source: The Economic Times
New Delhi : The GST Network (GSTN) is the IT backbone of the Goods and Services Tax regime. Though the system faced a lot of flak initially, with people finding it difficult to file returns, things appear to be settling down with the number of assessees on the rise, and fewer or no complaints of technical glitches. BusinessLine spoke to Prakash Kumar, GSTN’s Chief Executive, for his perspective on one year of GST and the plan for the years ahead. Excerpts:
On one year of GST
It was very challenging, and also exciting. We were faced with paucity of time; too many things to deliver; the targets, too, kept changing. But the good part is, we have been able to deliver. Yes, there were shortcomings, but those were also taken care of. With the support of the GST Council and all the Central and State officers, we have been able to put in place something that works, something that a large number of taxpayers are using, a large number of returns are filed. On GSTN’s progress from being a private limited company to a government-owned companyPresently, 51 per cent of GSTN is owned by five private sector entities and they can nominate three directors. The Central government owns 24.5 per cent equity, and they nominate three directors. The States also own another 24.5 per cent of GSTN, and they, too, nominate three directors. It means six directors are nominated by the government, and no decision can be taken unless and until the government directors concur. The second aspect is the procurement. We have been following GFR, which is Government Financial Rules, right from Day 1. The third on the list is the audit: we have been audited by the CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General) from the beginning. Then fourth aspect is RTI (Right to Information). Though we are not supposed to be under [the ambit of the] RTI, but since we are doing things of public purpose, we have kept ourselves under the RTI from the beginning. So, for us, [when GSTN becomes a government company] only the ownership changes, and we will have only government directors. Today, we have three private sector representatives, who will not be there.
On technical capacity
We designed the system for 1.3 crore users — twice the 65-lakh number that the government asked us to. Also, the design is such that you can put in more infrastructure without changing the software. On one particular day, 18.5 lakh returns were filed and 8 lakh payment transactions were done. Even then, our server utilisation was just 27 per cent. So, capacity-wise, we don’t face problems. But when everyone tries to transact in a one-hour window, there is problem. So we have a circuit-breaker. In the beginning, we allowed 80,000 [users at one go]. We then increased it to 1 lakh concurrent users, and then to 1.1 lakh. We now have to increase it to 1.3 lakh to ensure that the experience of those who are already logged in does not deteriorate. So the assessee numbered 1.3001 lakh, will have to wait for few seconds. She gets a message asking her to “kindly wait”. She comes in when someone goes out. We also have offline tools. This will facilitate more number of people to get in and get out. It means the number of people filing returns will increase.
On an anniversary gift for the assesses
Rather than wait for the first anniversary, we have been implementing suggestions from the assessees. Take the form 3B. Initially, it was lacking in lots of facilities; today we have made it a question-based return. For example, almost a fourth file ‘Nil’ returns; they don’t need to go through the entire process. The first question we ask is: “Do you want to file a ‘NIL’ return”. If she says ‘Yes’, she is taken straight to the very last point. There are different dialogue boxes and only those open which assesses tick. Another thing we have introduced is the mechanism of the error code. It is not sufficient to say that ‘some’ error has occurred. Rather, we should be specific, and based on that some suggestions can be given to the assessee. But this can’t be done in all the cases. However, if an assessee dials the call centre, asking about particular error code, he will get an answer accordingly.
On the e-Way bill
Ten crore e-Way bills [have been generated] in two months and 21 days and it is still showing an upward trend. The new system started with a daily generation of 8 lakh e-Way bills, while now more than 20 lakh can be generated. Whatever suggestions have come from tax-payers, we have implemented them. Just like the GST Council has been responsive, we, too, have tried to be responsive.
Source: Business Line
Foreign direct investment (FDI) in India seems to be petering out. According to the latest data released by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), FDI inflows growth rate recorded a five-year low of 3 per cent at $44.85 billion in 2017-18. In contrast, foreign inflows had grown by 8 per cent in 2013-14, under the previous government, albeit after recording a negative growth of 38 per cent in 2012-13.The current government had managed to initially multiply the FDI inflow growth rate to 27 per cent in 2014-15 and 29 per cent in the following year, but it dived to just 8.67 per cent in 2016-17. Experts say that it is critical to revive domestic investments and further ease of doing business in the country in order to attract foreign investors. According to Anil Talreja, Partner, Deloitte India, the low growth of FDI in the consumer and retail sectors can be mainly attributed to uncertainty and complexity of the FDI policy. "While the government has taken substantial efforts in relaxing the regulations as well as removing ambiguities, global consumer and retail companies are still hesitant to take decisions to invest in India," he said, adding that although India has done considerably well in terms of moving up the ranking in terms of ease of doing business, it needs to reach a level that creates enthusiasm for the overseas investors. Biswajit Dhar, professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University, pointed out that "The status of economy reflects the magnitude of the FDI in a country. In the past couple of years, we have seen decline in domestic investment rate and now, FDI is following that suit." He said that the government needs to take steps for reviving the domestic investment to attract foreign investors. A recent UNCTAD report reported similar figures for India, stating that FDI decreased to $40 billion in 2017 from $44 billion in the previous fiscal. However, it added that outflows from India, the main source of the FDI in South Asia, more than doubled to $11 billion. "Downward pressure on the FDI and slowdown in global value chains are a major concern for policy makers worldwide, and especially in developing countries," said UNCTAD Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi. Which sectors were the main beneficiaries of the FDI inflows in the last fiscal? The list includes services ($6.7 billion), computer software and hardware ($6.15 billion), telecommunications ($6.21 billion), trading ($4.34 billion), construction ($2.73 billion) automobile ($2 billion) and power ($1.62 billion). Mauritius has emerged as the largest source of FDI in India with $15.94 billion in 2017-18 followed by Singapore ($12.18 billion), Netherlands ($2.8 billion), the US ($2.1 billion) and Japan ($1.61 billion). Interestingly, the data showed that the FDI equity inflow of $44.8 billion in 2017-18 is the highest-ever for any financial year. FDI is important as India would require huge investments in the coming years to overhaul its infrastructure sector to boost growth. A decline in foreign inflows could put pressure on the country's balance of payments and may also impact the value of the rupee - which is already down around 7 per cent against the dollar this year. Earlier in January, addressing the first PIO [Persons of Indian Origin]-Parliamentarians Conference in the Capital, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had quoted a higher FDI figure. He had said: "India has moved far ahead ... A record $60 billion FDI came into the country last year".
Source: Business Today
Jaipur: Even after a year has passed since the introduction of GST, tax refunds and anomalies still remain a challenge for many in businesses like handicrafts, textiles, gems and jewellery, which have a larger footprint in the state’s economy. Business leaders from multiple sectors said that while the industry is gradually settling into the new normal the irritants, in some cases holding back companies from expanding their capacity, need to be removed. “The benefits of Goods and Services Tax (GST) are multiple. But there are some tax anomalies that need to be corrected,” said Dileep Baid, ex-president of Federation of Rajasthan Handicrafts Exporters. Baid said that the ceramic industry used to pay only 2% tax on diesel which now has increased close to 20% and this has put the Indian handicraft makers at a disadvantage compared to the rivals in China. “Despite higher cost of doing business in India, we were able to find a market for ourselves against Chinese products. But the additional burden of tax on diesel has created further headwind and reduced our competitiveness. We can only hope that the government understands this and rationalizes taxes on diesel,” added Baid. Rajasthan is the second largest manufacturer of handicrafts in the country after Uttar Pradesh. The sector which used to pay VAT of around 5% has been put under 12-18% tax bracket in the GST regime. Some segments like furniture even attracts the highest slab of 28%. The textile industry catering to domestic market was impacted initially. But since then, businesses have restructured their operations to the new tax regime. But the export segment has been hit hard by the reduction of duty drawback significantly. “There are two problem the industry is facing today. The refunds are not being cleared causing tightness in working capital requirements. Secondly, reduction of duty draw back by about 60% for textile exporters has dwelt a big blow,” said Saurav Gupta, general secretary, Association of Garment Exporters, Sitapura. For the gems and jewellery industry, GST is not much of an issue. What the industry wants is the reduction of 10% import duty and also 0.25% GST on precious and semiprecious stones when studded in jewellery. “We have been demanding for reduction of import duty from the current 10%. Because, along with GST, the tax component goes up to 13%. In times like this when the rupee is depreciating, we cannot help but increase the prices which is not good for creating demand in the market,” said Kailash Mittal, president of Sarafa Traders Committee.
Source: Times News Network
Rajkot: “Our country’s relationship with Gujarat dates back to Gandhian era. Our president follows Gandhian ideology and we will be pleased to have business tie-ups with Gujarat,” said Brian Mwale Saka, first secretary, trade and economic affairs, Zambian High Commission. Saka was speaking on the inaugural day of a three-day Saurashtra Vyapar Udyog Mahamandal (SVUM)-2018 International B2B Meet and Exhibition in Rajkot on Sunday. A total of 75 delegates from Sudan, Zambia, Congo, Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Togo, and Benin from Africa and south Asian countries like Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, and Combodia, Isreal and the UK participated on the first day of the conference. Andre Poh, ambassador, embassy of the Republic of Congo from New Delhi, “African countries have a lot to learn from India when it comes to agriculture. Emphasis should be laid on agricultural tie-ups with India.” SUVM president Parag Tejura said, “African countries have a huge market for pharmaceuticals, medical tourism, Ayurvedic medicines, cosmetics, garments and textiles, agricultural equipment, fertilizers and pesticides, construction machineries, ceramics and sanitary ware, bearing tools machineries, imitation jewellery and footwear products produced by the SMEs of Saurashtra and Kutch.” This is the fourth edition of Africa trade show. Tejura said: “Our aim is to ensure that by the year 2025, 25,000 traders should start importing goods from the SMEs of Saurashtra and Kutch.” Tejura said that Rajkot has become a hub for international business conferences, but it lacks the number of convention centres. “Considering th-is fact, I urge the state government to set up a permanent convention centre in Rajkot.”
Source: Times News Neetwork
KOCHI: Kochi, the commercial hub of Kerala and a port city, has grown to become an important homeware import, distribution and consumption centre in India. With high per capita income being generated from commercial activities locally as well as from the NRI sources, Kochi has today evolved into one of the biggest consumers of houseware products like cookware, glassware, crockery and similar products. Arun Roongta, managing director, HGH India shared some interesting insight with the media in Kochi recently. HGH India 2018, the country’s largest trade show for home textiles, home décor, houseware and gifts to be held in Mumbai from July 3-5 offers a unique opportunity to source world-class products where 550 brands and manufacturers from 30 countries will showcase their latest designs and product innovations. HGH India, which is into its seventh edition, is witnessing an increasing number of Kerala-based exhibitors looking to market their products and business owners trying to source products. With one of the highest numbers of NRIs per family, Kerala gets consistent funds and has emerged as a consumer market with high spending power. Owing to this, the houseware, home textiles and home décor demand and retailing have seen a healthy growth over the last few years. Retailers in Kochi need to constantly offer new designs and new products to their customers to stay ahead in their business vis-à-vis their competitors. Kochi is also the largest manufacturer of exporter of coir products in India. Coir is not only used as a raw material in products like mattresses and sofas a large number of eco-friendly finished products like doormats and decorative accessories made from coir are popular worldwide and within the country.
Source: The New Indian Express
Heimtextil India and Ambiente India—two of the world’s finest home fashion business exhibitions—recently held their fifth edition in the national capital. The two events were held between 27-29 June at Delhi’s Pragati Maidan. The Minister of State for Textiles, Ajay Tamta, inaugurated the proceedings, along with Raj Manek, Executive Director of Messe Frankfurt Asia Holding Ltd. among other dignitaries. Speaking at the inauguration, Tamta said, “I’m glad to be present here at the inauguration of the 5th edition of Heimtextil and Ambiente India trade fairs. It’s an honour for Indian handlooms and textiles to be present here and I’d like to congratulate Messe Frankfurt for this initiative. India has been a part of this global event since the past editions and I also got a chance to attend it in Germany. It has been creating job opportunities for small-scale handloom and textile artistes.” He further added: “This yearly event also gives a push to the Indian economy—both for handlooms and handicrafts. I’ve been told that many National Award winners and veterans have taken part in this event and it is great to see the industry coming together for this show.” He also addressed the gathering, which included the industry’s new and leading brands presenting the latest collections for the Indian market. The three-day fair was organised by Messe Frankfurt Trade Fairs India. They brought more than 150 top manufacturers and suppliers of the home textiles and interior décor industry from across India, as well as from China, Indonesia, Switzerland and Thailand under one roof. The exhibition also provided a platform to several startups, as well as reputed companies like D’décor, Reliance, Aditya Birla, Hira Hastkala, and Solidbench among many others. Highlighting the events designed exclusively for the business fraternity, Raj Manek said, “Every edition of the co-located show has successfully managed to curate exclusive programmes for the benefit of its buyers and exhibitors. Along with a host of new displays, zones and insightful sessions, this edition has a specially designed pavilion by ‘Cohands’ that will display India’s legacy in art and design by highly acclaimed National Awardees.” The Council of Handicrafts Development Corporations’ specially curated ‘Cohands’ Pavilion brought together figures like the Padamshree and National Awardee Prakash Lakhwal; National Awardees Vivekananda Bagchi, Sneh Gangal, and Kamlesh Jangid; Shilp Guru Awardees Har Krishan, Mohd. Matloob and Brahmdeo Ram Pandit—just to name a few who displayed their work in traditional Indian crafts here. Together, the awardees displayed traditionally crafted products with a contemporary touch—from miniature paintings, to terracotta, cane and bamboo arts; from wood carvings and wood inlays, to Mithila paintings. At the side events here, one could witness a plethora of modern design concepts, native décor themes, art, colour trends and fresh business ideas. From themed exhibits to inspiring product designs, to seminar sessions and experience zones, the platform offered a quality experience in terms of business and industry networking. On the first day, Heimtextil India and Ambiente India 2018 hosted the Interior Lifestyle Awards, to honour creative masters from the interior décor and home textile sectors, who will now represent India on a global platform at the next edition of Ambiente and Heimtextil in Frankfurt. With over 500 entries from around the nation, it was a tough task for the jury to choose the winners. Ace designers Leena Singh, Alex Davis and Lipika Sud were given the responsibility to pick the winners for the two designated spots. But this time there were three winners—Jaya Kanwar for home textile; and Hitesh Sharma and Pravin Singh Solanki for home décor. Hitesh Sharma, founder of Solidbench, spoke to Guardian 20 about his experience. He said, “Me and my partner, Anant Khirbat, never expected that we will get this opportunity to present our brand globally on such a big platform.” He informed us that he had received a mail from the organisers saying that they can showcase their collection at the exhibition. Among 500 entries from across the world, 11 applicants were given the opportunity to showcase their collection at the Delhi exhibition, in home décor and home textile categories. Sharma added, “We are delighted that our brand got selected to showcase globally at Frankfurt next year.”
Source: Sunday Guardian
|
Item |
Price |
Unit |
Fluctuation |
Date |
|
PSF |
1309.60 |
USD/Ton |
0.23% |
7/1/2018 |
|
VSF |
2240.07 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/1/2018 |
|
ASF |
3066.32 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/1/2018 |
|
Polyester POY |
1382.86 |
USD/Ton |
1.50% |
7/1/2018 |
|
Nylon FDY |
3519.47 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/1/2018 |
|
40D Spandex |
5286.75 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/1/2018 |
|
Nylon POY |
5702.14 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/1/2018 |
|
Acrylic Top 3D |
1635.12 |
USD/Ton |
0.70% |
7/1/2018 |
|
Polyester FDY |
3156.95 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/1/2018 |
|
Nylon DTY |
3172.05 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/1/2018 |
|
Viscose Long Filament |
1608.68 |
USD/Ton |
0.47% |
7/1/2018 |
|
Polyester DTY |
3602.54 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/1/2018 |
|
30S Spun Rayon Yarn |
2983.24 |
USD/Ton |
-0.25% |
7/1/2018 |
|
32S Polyester Yarn |
2126.78 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/1/2018 |
|
45S T/C Yarn |
2960.58 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/1/2018 |
|
40S Rayon Yarn |
2265.75 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/1/2018 |
|
T/R Yarn 65/35 32S |
2522.54 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/1/2018 |
|
45S Polyester Yarn |
3149.39 |
USD/Ton |
-0.24% |
7/1/2018 |
|
T/C Yarn 65/35 32S |
2658.48 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/1/2018 |
|
10S Denim Fabric |
1.42 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
7/1/2018 |
|
32S Twill Fabric |
0.87 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
7/1/2018 |
|
40S Combed Poplin |
1.22 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
7/1/2018 |
|
30S Rayon Fabric |
0.69 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
7/1/2018 |
|
45S T/C Fabric |
0.72 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
7/1/2018 |
Source: Global Textiles
Note: The above prices are Chinese Price (1 CNY = 0.15105 USD dtd. 01/7/2018). The prices given above are as quoted from Global Textiles.com. SRTEPC is not responsible for the correctness of the same.
More than 200 companies representing 40 countries are participating in the Belt and Road Brand Expo which was inaugurated in Shanghai on Friday. “Institutions and associations from countries and regions along the Belt and Road are attending the expo. They are also looking forward to attending the China International Import Expo (CIIE) in November,” Yang Jianrong, head of Council for the Promotion of International Trade in Shanghai told local media Xinhua. China’s One Belt, One Road initiative aims to create a modern Silk Road Economic Belt and a 21st Century Maritime Silk Road to boost trade and extend its global influence. China has put in place a $40 billion Silk Road Fund to boost infrastructure projects along the route. The ancient Silk Road connected China and Europe from around 100 B.C. The 6,000-km road linked ancient Chinese, Indian, Babylonian, Arabic, Greek and Roman civilizations. A new map unveiled by Chinese news agency Xinhua shows the Chinese plans for the Silk Road run through Central China to the northern Xinjiang from where it travels through Central Asia entering Kazakhstan and onto Iraq, Iran, Syria and then Istanbul in Turkey from where it runs across Europe cutting across Germany, Netherlands and Italy. According to Xinhua, With the theme “Quality life to share,” the expo runs until July 1 and will then travel to Chongqing in November.
Source: The Bric Post
Mr Segun Ajayi-Kadri, the Director-General, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), has appealed to the Federal Government to relax the tough conditions attached to disbursement of the Textile Intervention Fund. Ajayi Kadri made the plea in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Sunday. He said that the appeal became necessary due to the bureaucracy and strict conditions surrounding the allocation of the fund, saying that there was need to revitalise the textile industry. “The textile industry had suffered a lot of bashing, especially as a result of smuggling and other infrastructure deficiencies. “At the moment, we do not have more than five textile industries working and they are functioning at low capacity. “The government had responded in terms of policy initiatives; the primary of which is the Textile Fund anchored by the Central Bank of Nigeria. Ajayi-Kadri said that manufacturers were finding it difficult to benefit from the fund due to some bottlenecks and strict conditions attached to it. “As a result, we have been in contact and consultations with the CBN on some of these conditions. “Our appeal is for the Federal Government to step in and make things a lot easier so that the end point of revitalisation is not lost,’’ the director-general said. Ajayi-Kadri also urged the government to continue its effort at ensuring provision of basic infrastructure to reduce the cost of production by manufacturers. He suggested inter-ministerial and inter-departmental cooperation for quick actualisation of the proposed anti- smuggling task force to combat smuggling of textiles.
Source: The nation
Recycling services in Summit County are about to get a little better thanks to a recent agreement between the Summit County Resource Allocation Park and USAgain. The SCRAP began allowing textile recycling this week, with hopes of curbing the effects of unwanted material in the landfill and lowering CO2 emissions. "We are delighted that Summit County residents now have more than one option to recycle their clothes for reuse," said Hallie Jaeger, community programs director for High Country Conservation Center. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, 85 percent of all discarded textiles, about 13 million tons, are sent to landfills every year. The idea is that by recycling textiles like unwanted clothing, shoes and bedding Summit can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, conserve natural resources and save landfill space. Jaeger noted that residents should first think about donating their textiles to local families and individuals in need before turning to recycling. "Of course, we urge people to bring gently used clothing first and foremost to the Family & Intercultural Resource Center and other thrift stores for local reuse," Jaeger said. If clothes are too tattered or worn for local organizations, residents can turn to USAgain bins as an alternative. USAgain is a for-profit business out of Chicago that collects and resells textiles. Textiles should be put into trash bags prior to recycling. Carpets, pillows and wet clothes will not be accepted. "We are proud to be community partners with High Country Conservation Center to maximize recycling in Summit County," said Katie Hudnut, Summit Thrift & Treasure program manager for FIRC. "We encourage our donors to continue to bring quality, gently used donations to our thrift stores. However, we are not able to sell clothing that is tattered, torn, over-worn or stained. Therefore we encourage people to separate those items and bring them to the new USAgain bins at the SCRAP."
Source: Summit Daily
