Among the terms of reference of the committee is the task of interacting with administrative ministries, export promotion councils, commodity boards, trade bodies and other stakeholders so as to elicit their views on the ceiling rates under the scheme. The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Excise issued an order for formation of the committee on July 30. The government has formed a committee to determine ceiling rates under the Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme. The panel has been tasked with evolving a mechanism for calculation of duties at the central, state and local level which are borne by exporters so that they can be refunded all the taxes paid on goods and services used in export but are currently not being reimbursed under extant mechanisms. In March, the Cabinet had approved the RoDTEP scheme with the purpose that exporters would get the refunds in the form of transferable duty credit/electronic scrip, which will be maintained in an electronic ledger. This would ensure that exports are zero-rates, along with refunds such as drawback and IGST. The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Excise issued an order for formation of the committee on July 30. It would have three months to prepare its main report after identification and prioritisation of sectors and items by the government is finalised. Among the terms of reference of the committee is the task of interacting with administrative ministries, export promotion councils, commodity boards, trade bodies and other stakeholders so as to elicit their views on the ceiling rates under the scheme. The order said that the committee would prepare modalities for calculating taxes on exports “including prior stage cumulative indirect taxes on goods and services used in the production and of exported product and such indirect duties/taxes/levies in respect of distribution of exported product and recommend in their report the ceiling rates of RoDTEP for the items/sectors identified by the government”. The committee would be chaired by retired former secretary to the government GK Pillai with retired CBEC members YG Parande and Gautam Ray as other members. At present, GST taxes and import/customs duties for inputs required to manufacture exported products are either exempted or refunded. However, certain levies are outside GST, and are not refunded for exports, such as VAT on fuel used in transportation, mandi tax, duty on electricity used during manufacturing, among others. These would be covered for reimbursement under the RoDTEP Scheme. After the cabinet approval, the government had said that the sequence of introduction of the scheme across sectors, prioritisation of the sectors to be covered, degree of benefit to be given on various items within the rates set by the committee will be decided and notified by the department of commerce.
Source: Financial Express
When the GST was introduced in 2017, the tax incidence of 18% for man-made fibre was retained (earlier it was 17.5%, including both the excise duty and value-added tax) but it didn’t bridge the gap with the cotton fibre. The government will roll out a production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for the labourintensive textiles and garment sector and correct its historical policy bias towards a cotton-dominated value chain, as it plans a renewed bid to reclaim India’s export markets after ceding a substantial ground to Bangladesh and Vietnam in recent years. In a recent interaction with a group of Japanese officials and investors, textile secretary Ravi Capoor said the “focussed product scheme” will incentivise the production of about 40 items with high export potential and reposition India as a major producer of synthetic fibre-based apparel. The incentive structure is being worked out. The textiles ministry is also in talks with the finance ministry to correct a crippling indirect tax structure in the man-made textiles segment, in which goods and services tax rates remain elevated at the raw material stage and the ITC (input tax credit) process takes time, acceding to a long-pending request of the textile industry. Decisions on GST rates, of course, are taken by the GST Council that comprises both the Centre and states. While the GST on cotton and textiles made of it stands at a uniform 5% across the value chain, the rate for synthetic fibre is 18%. Man-made filament/spun yarn is taxed at 12% and fabrics 5%. This is despite the fact that man-made textiles make up for as much as 65-70% of global demand and consequently hold immense export potential. In India, however, cotton textiles account for close to 70% of the market. Coupled with rigid labour laws and elevated logistics costs, this distortion — caused by policy interventions for decades — has stunted the country’s ability to raise garment exports exponentially. The government had rolled out a Rs 6,000-crore package to boost garment exports in 2016. But in the absence of structural reforms to correct the legacy issues, the package met with only very limited success. After the GST Council’s last meeting in June, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said a decision on the inverted duty structure, especially in the textiles, footwear and fertiliser sectors, was deferred but the issue was still being examined by the Council. Capoor also told the investors that the government would incentivise textiles machinery output under the Aatmanirbhar initiative. India meets over 70% of its annual demand through imports — which stand at about $2 billion — from countries, including Germany, China and Italy. To tackle the problem of a lack of scale, the government would facilitate the setting up of mega integrated textile parks near ports. The major policy interventions are being planned at a time when the Covid-19 pandemic has accentuated a slowdown in exports. Textile and garment exports shrank 8.6% year on year to $33.7 billion in FY20 and saw a more dramatic, Covid-induced contraction of almost 72% during in the first two months of this fiscal. As such, the sector’s share in the overall merchandise exports has been sliding consistently in recent years, having dropped from as much as 13.7% in FY16 to just 10.8% last fiscal, the lowest in around a decade. Globally, while China remains the most dominant player by a wide margin in both textiles and garments, India has been beaten by both Bangladesh and Vietnam in recent years in apparel exports. Hailing the government’s plan, Rajeev Gopal, global chief sales & marketing officer (pulp and fibre business) at Aditya Birla Group, highlighted that the historical tax disparity has weighed down the downstream value chain (in man-made textiles), especially processing. What the country needs is a fibre-neutral tax regime. While a refund in case of an inverted duty structure is permitted under the GST regime, the process takes time, effectively blocking the working capital of companies for months, he said. Aditya Birla Group is the country’s largest producer of viscose fibre. While a parity in the tax structure for cotton and man-made textiles has long been sought, industry executives are more optimistic about the structural change now, emboldened by the fact that the Budget for 2020-21 took a big step by ending an anti-dumping duty on purified terephthalic acid (PTA), which is used for making polyester staple fibre, filament yarn and film. Elevated imposts on PTA imports had exerted a cost push across the value chain and undermined the pricing power of the downstream synthetic textile industry in the export market. According to OP Lohia, chairman of Indo Rama Synthetics, the GST should have a uniform rate structure for all fibres and this disparity between natural and man-made fibres must end. When the GST was introduced in 2017, the tax incidence of 18% for man-made fibre was retained (earlier it was 17.5%, including both the excise duty and value-added tax) but it didn’t bridge the gap with the cotton fibre.
Source: Financial Express
Indian products deserve fair access to other countries with a level playing field and the country wants reciprocal trade with the world, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Monday. Speaking at a webinar organised by FICCI, Goyal said green shoots are visible in the economy and exports are witnessing a good turnaround. “We are in July at about 91 per cent export level of July 2019 figures. Imports are still at about 70-71 per cent level of July 2019. So, broadly our balance of payments this year is going to be very strong, which is why we feel confident that Indian industry will see opportunities for growth,” he said at the webinar. He said the government’s recent steps are aimed at promoting and supporting domestic industry. “We are trying to make sure that our domestic manufacturers and industry and our stakeholders get a fair play. There have to be equal, fair and reciprocal arrangements. If other countries are desirous of access to the Indian market opportunity and provide services to meet our needs they also have to give our country’s businesses equal opportunities to engage in their countries. “They cannot put overarching technical barriers or regulations, which do not allow our products to go into their country and then complain if we put any standards in our country,” Goyal added.
‘Increase sourcing’
The Minister also pointed out that companies investing in India, should look at indigenising those items that India has capability to make and not just look at assembling in India by bringing complete knocked-down kits or semi-knocked down kits. “They should in a phased manner look at sourcing from India, developing their products in India and then encash the large business opportunity that India presents. We are inviting investments and are encouraging investments and allowing free flow of goods but it has to be reciprocal,” Goyal added.
Source: Financial Express
Textile Ministry is now in talks with big commercial brands like BIBA and Arvind Mills to promote handmade weaves, Union textile minister, Smriti Irani has said. “I think that’s where the challenge lies,” Irani said referring to the disconnect between hand loom products, the youth and modern markets, in respond to the observation made by Isha Foundation founder, Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev during a web conversation on August seven, the National Handloom Day. “We are appealing to people in the commercial segment to source their cloth directly from the weavers, bringing about a synergy that was long absent,” Irani said. Sadhguru spoke about the need to encourage the Indian textile industry by introducing hand loom products in schools, tourism circuits and aviation industry and made a strong pitch for school uniforms to be made from handmade weaves of the state. “It is a crime to wrap a child in a polyfiber. You do that to dead fish, not to living children. Especially a child’s body is very vulnerable to this – both their physical and psychological well being is impacted by polyfiber entering into their system,” he said. Welcoming the remarks, Smriti Irani spoke about the several vital changes the ministry has instituted to make weaving a commercially viable proposition for weavers. Though the government has invested Rs.1,300 crore for skill development in the sector, the minister acknowledged that a lot remains to be done. “I’m conscious that much more needs to be done. We want to make hand loom not only better designed, but also better priced. Our endeavour is to also ensure it becomes an everyday, affordable article for more Indians so that our weavers get a bigger market,” she said. To mark the National Handloom Day, the Textile Ministry also unveiled its plans to develop 10 craft and handloom villages across the country. The government hopes to attract tourists to these villages to popularise the products and help people discover the rich legacy of Indian weavers, she said. Stating that “No nation, no culture ever has come up with so many varieties of textiles,” Sadhguru spoke about India’s pride of place as the primary supplier of textiles to the world at one time. “Ancient India had the pride of clothing the world. We have to bring back the hand weavers in a big way because it (the handloom industry) is the second largest employer next to agriculture. I think in many ways we will be presenting India in a much more aesthetic and sensible way, and also in a commercially sensible way.” an Isha release, quoting Sadhguru said.
Source: Covai Post Network
The Fourth edition of the National Public Procurement Conclave [NPPC], organized by Government e Marketplace [GeM], in association with the Confederation of Indian Industry [CII] for two days,was inaugurated online by Shri PiyushGoyal, Union Commerce and Industry & Railways Minister today, to coincide with the anniversary of GeM Establishment Day.The theme of NPPC is “Technology enabled Government Procurement – Towards efficiency, transparency, and inclusiveness”, Lauding the success of GeM in becoming a game changer in the Government procurement, Shri Goyal called upon more and more buyers and sellers to join the system. Expressing the confidence that GeM will be able to unlock the value and save money for the nation’s development, he said that it has helped in transparent, seamless, easy, efficient and faster procurements. All the information is available at one place, and any outlier trying to manipulate the system can be easily identified. He said that the Government’s decision to ask the buyers to give interest for delayed payments in GeM is a significant step. At the same time, he also cautioned the unscrupulous sellers from pushing the poor quality goods or charging exorbitant prices, as they will not only be blacklisted from the GeM portal but from the entire Government ecosystem. Shri PiyushGoyal welcomed the offer from the CII to partner with GeM and expand the reach to the nook and corner of the country. He said that GeM has the advantage of being seamless, transparent, open and efficient and technology-driven, and this will gain momentum if more and more buyers and sellers join the system. More procurement orders will lead to more sellers joining it, leading to more competition, and availability of quality products at cheaper prices. “More the merrier”, said the Minister. The Minister said that the Government has been making continuous efforts to reach out to all sections of the society, especially the marginalized ones, who were denied basic amenities for a long time. He said that the Government procurement is very large and has to be efficient. “Every penny saved is penny earned”, said the minister. The greater competition and efficiency helps the Government save money which is then used for the public good, and reach out to those who deserve this. Shri Goyal said that the Government has been bringing honesty and eliminating corruption. “ Technology leads to Transparency which leads to Trust, which helps in Transformation of the country. We have moved from Corruption to Clean Government which has raised the Confidence of people, and which is leading to greater Commerce within the country and internationally.” The Minister said that as the television media’s success is measured by TRP ratings, the Success of GeM can be measured by Trust (Of people in government procurement), Reliability (In supply of quality products at low cost and timely manner) and Prosperity (of the nation and the people). He said that maximum efficiency comes from the minimum government, and e-process in procurement is a step in this direction. The Minister announced that GeM and Indian railways are working earnestly to integrate the latter’s procurements with the former. He said that the railways presently spend about Rs 70,000 crore per annum on procurements and the integration of the system with the GeM will lead to saving of at least 10-15% which is almost Rs 10,000 Crore. He said that besides savings of money, the integration will save efforts, manpower and bring in more efficiency and transparency in the system. Shri SomParkash, Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said that the Conclave provided an excellent opportunity to Buyers and Sellers to interact. He said Women Entrepreneurs, start-ups, Artisans, Weavers, Self-Help Groups and MSMEs will find such platforms very useful. He called for reduction of Government purchases from outside the Gem system. Shri Talleen Kumar, CEO, GeM, said that GeM aims to enhance efficiency, transparency, inclusiveness in public procurement and provides the tools of Direct Procurement, eBidding, and Reverse Auction to facilitate buyers achieve the best value for their money.He said that GeM has evolved as an increasingly transparent, efficient and inclusive platform, with MSMEs making up over 57% of the cumulative Gross Merchandise Value on GeM. In order to provide an impetus to the Make in India initiative as part of the vision of “Aatmanirbhar Bharat”, and also to promote local products through the “Vocal for Local” initiative, the Government has made it mandatory for all sellers on GeM to list the Country of Origin while registering new products.Over the next couple of months, GeM shall be rolling out GeM 4.0 – which will be anchored in the Unified Procurement System. The key features of this year’s online conclave include a detailed overview of the enhanced version of GeM – GeM 4.0, followed by virtual panel sessions on role of MSMEs, Startups, Women Entrepreneurs, Weavers & Artisans, Information Technology, Defense and Railways in Public Procurement. Some of the other highlights at NPPC 2020 include virtual B2B and B2G meetings between Govt buyers and sellers, training and technical sessions on GeM features and new developments, a virtual GeM stall to resolve queries on the spot and facilitate registration of sellers and buyers, special session for Services.
Source: PIB
In consonance with the Government of India's vision of “Minimum Government and Maximum Governance”, a leaner government machinery and the need for systematic rationalisation of government bodies, the Government of India has changed the status of eight existing textiles research associations (TRAs) from 'affiliated bodies' to 'approved bodies'. "All TRAs do hereby cease to be ‘affiliated bodies’ of the ministry of textiles. The eight (8) TRAs shall hereafter be ‘approved bodies’ for conducting testing, research and developmental activities related to the textiles sector," a ministry of textiles resolution dated August 6, 2020 said. From now on, any disposal/sale/transfer of assets created out of Central Government grant shall require prior specific approval of the ministry of textiles. "In addition, officials of the ministry of textiles, Government of India, representing in the Governing Bodies of these TRAs are hereby withdrawn," the resolution added. It suggests that the changes may be included in the relevant bye-laws of the respective TRAs, under intimation to the ministry of textiles. The eight existing TRAs are Ahmedabad Textile Industry’s Research Association (ATIRA), Ahmedabad; The Bombay Textile Research Association (BTRA), Mumbai; Northern India Textile Research Association (NITRA), Ghaziabad; The South India Textile Research Association (SITRA), Coimbatore; The Synthetic & Art Silk Mills’ Research Association (SASMIRA), Mumbai; Man-Made Textile Research Association (MANTRA), Surat; Wool Research Association (WRA), Thane; and Indian Jute Industries’ Research Association (IJIRA), Kolkata.
Source: Fibre2fashion
The world is looking for trusted partners where there is rule of law, transparency in systems, strong judiciary and democratic traditions, and India can become a key player in global supply chains as it provides all of these, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Saturday. He said India has to engage with the world with competitive prices, high quality products, large scale economies of manufacturing, high productivity levels, but "not on the crutches" of government subsidies. The world is "looking for trusted partners...who have a rule of law, who have transparency in the system, who have a court of appeal, which have vibrant media, strong judiciary and democratic traditions. These are the type of partners the world is looking for and India provides all of these and can become a trusted partner in global supply chains," the minister said in a CII webinar. Talking about the performance of the country's exports, Goyal said the current numbers of outbound shipments are reecting signs of signicant improvement. He said exports last month reached about 91 per cent level as compared to July 2019. "In fact, in the last 10 days of August, we are at over 95 per cent export level. If you remove oil based and gem and jewellery exports, , we have actually grown in July and in the last 10 days of July, we have grown by above 10 per cent and I think that should be the music to ears for all the analysts who are worried about whether it will be 'U' shape or a 'V' shape recovery. "But at the same time, we cannot rest on our laurels. This is a short term phenomenon, we all need to work harder to institutionalise this," he added. The minister also said that for the last 11 days, Indian railways have been running the freight trains at twice the speed of what they were running one year ago. "So from about 23 km/hr, freight trains today are running at 46 km/hr," he said adding for the rst time in the history of Indian railways, rather than industry coming to railway and pleading that their material be given priority, today railway is reaching out to industry to get more freight. In the last 11 days, the minister said, Indian railways have moved 4 per cent more freight than they did in the same 11 days of 2019. Goyal also said many people wondered earlier why India had imposed restrictions on export of medicines. He said the restrictions were never meant to stop supply of medicines, they were rather imposed to ensure an equitable distribution across the globe, otherwise in the period of crisis, a few nations would have cornered all the available pharmacy and medical stocks and the poor, and less rich countries would have remained deprived of adequate medicines. Further he said that "when we talk of a STRONG India, we are talking of India where 'S' stands for 'sabka saath, sabka vikas, aur sabka vishwas' , 'T' is for total focus on goal of a self-reliant India, 'R'- resilient India, 'O' for opening up ourselves to new horizons, 'N' stands for nationalism and 'G' stands for gearing up for a better tomorrow." BUS Speaking in a separate webinar, Goyal said the government is working towards using the current crisis to strengthen the economy and make India a self-reliant country. He said the government announced an Aatmanirbhar Bharat package, several initiatives were taken and "many many more that are on drawing board, will be unfurled in the days and months to come" Addressing the convocation ceremony of Meghnad Desai Academy of Economics, he said Aatmanirbhar Bharat does not mean looking inwards or closing doors for the world. "There will be products where we will have to continue to import, India is not against imports per se, India is not closing its doors to global engagement, India is expanding it wider," he added
Source: Economic Times
India requires an investment of whopping Rs 111 lakh crore in infrastructure over the next five years to sustain a healthy economic growth, according to the report of the Task Force on National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) The Union Cabinet is expected to take up soon a proposal for setting up Credit Guarantee Enhancement Corporation to widen sources of capital for infrastructure nancing, sources said. India requires an investment of whopping Rs 111 lakh crore in infrastructure over the next ve years to sustain a healthy economic growth, according to the report of the Task Force on National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP). To meet the huge funding requirement, Credit Guarantee Enhancement Corporation would be one of the tools for mobilising funds for infrastructure development, sources said. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced in the budget for 2019-20 that Credit Guarantee Enhancement Corporation would be set up to increase sources of capital for infrastructure nancing. To facilitate setting up, the RBI has already notied the regulation for a Credit Guarantee Enhancement Corporation. The Corporation is likely to be set up as a Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) with partnership of IIFCL, LIC, PFC, REC and similar other companies, sources said. A cabinet note for setting up of the proposed corporation is under process, sources added. The corporation may have an authorised capital of Rs 20,000 crore and will provide guarantee to bonds issued by completed projects. Credit enhancement helps issuing companies improve their bond ratings, as bond payment is guaranteed to a certain limit. The issuer also gets access to markets at cheaper rates than borrowing from banks. Availability of long-term infrastructure nancing has been a challenge, given the problems faced by banks - asset-liability mismatch and increasing share of stressed assets, a senior oicial of a public sector nancial rm said. To support the funding of the National Infrastructure Pipeline of Rs 111 lakh crore, the Finance Minister in the Budget speech this year said about Rs 22,000 crore has already been provided. This would cater for equity support to infrastructure nance companies such as India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL) and a subsidiary of National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), the minister had said. "They would leverage it, as permissible, to create nancing pipeline of more than Rs 1,00,000 crore. This would create a major source of long term debt for infrastructure projects and full a long awaited requirement," Sitharaman had said.
Source: Economic Times
India’s exports contracted for the fourth consecutive month in June with the country reporting a trade surplus after 18 years on declining imports. Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday said India’s July eports have reached 91% of the level in July 2019, with the last 10 days of the month having seen outbound shipments exceed 95% of the level in the corresponding period last year. Nonoil and non-gems & jewellery exports have grown in July with the growth exceeding 10% in the last ten days of the month compared to the same period last year. “This is a short term phenomenon which we need to institutionalise,” Goyal said at the India@75 Summit organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry. India’s exports contracted for the fourth consecutive month in June with the country reporting a trade surplus after 18 years on declining imports. Goyal, who is also the railways minister, said that freight trains are running at double the speed of last year at around 46 kmph and business development units across 69 divisions have reached out to move more freight. “There is surplus capacity in railways and not so much business…Railways have moved 4% more trains in the last 11 days than 2019,” he said. On the issue of Atmanirbhar Bharat, he said India started producing its own Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and ventilators- whose exports have now been allowed-when no country was willing to supply these to India. “PPE, testing kits, ventilators…no country was willing to supply those to us but India produced them and now we have opened these up for exports,” he said. Goyal stated that Atmanirbhar Bharat means India has to compete at competitive prices and of good quality without the clutches of the government subsidy.
Source: Economic Times
Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Shri Nitin Gadkari today addressed India@75 Summit : Mission 2022 organised by the Confederation of Indian Industries. He said, there is urgent need to look towards improving presence of MSME industry in the 115 identified aspirational districts of the country. Their contribution to GDP is presently negligible, but if focused attention is drawn towards them, these can uplift the employment scene in a big way. The Minister informed that the government is working upon a scheme for inclusion of smallest units under MSME ambit providing for their micro financial requirements. Recently, the MSME umbrella has been expanded and industry with investment value uptoRs 50 crore and turnover uptoRs 250 crore has been covered in the new definition of MSME. Also, the manufacturing and service sectors under MSME have been brought together by giving similar definitions to both. Shri Gadkari called upon the CII representatives to share ideas and suggestions for improving the overall economic condition of the country. He cited the example of China, where top 10 business categories contributed about 70 per cent to its export bill. He said, by technology upgradation, India can also look for new export avenues in MSME sector. This will help grow a large number of ancillary units, he said. Shri Gadkari also asked CII to draft a proposal for insurance of roads which will remove requirement of Bank Guarantee(BG). This will speed up financial closure of road projects and in raising finances, thereby faster project completion. He elaborated how road scenarios was changing in the country which would further immensely improve with proposed 22 new green expressway projects.
Source: PIB
A tax official said GSTR-2B is also expected to help the department to effectively implement its policy of restricting credit availability to those taxpayers whose suppliers fail to upload invoices for the purchases otherwise claimed by the assessee for availing ITC. The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council is likely to shelve the plan announced last year to usher in a new format of tax returns and continue with the existing system, with some improvements and modifications to plug loopholes. The GoM, headed by Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Modi, met last week and agreed on linking GSTR-1 (outward sales return) and GSTR-3B (monthly summary return), and introducing GSTR-2B document which would provide exact input tax credit (ITC) details to the taxpayers, according to a source. The group also decided to allow quarterly filing of GSTR-3B for taxpayers below Rs 5- crore turnover threshold, which could be introduced by November. The relaxation for filing GSTR-1 returns once in a quarter is already available to smaller taxpayers. The linking of two returns –- GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B — will eventually lead to autopopulation of GSTR-3B from GSTR-1. This would reduce the liability and ITC mismatch currently reported, and the functionality is expected to come online by the end of this month. Further, the GST Network (GSTN) will deploy GSTR-2B this month, a document which would be auto-populated with details of ITC available to taxpayers. The data would be extracted from GSTR-1 filed by the counter-party suppliers of a particular taxpayers. This would ensure that the assessee knows the exact amount of credit to claim in GSTR-3B return. A tax official said GSTR-2B is also expected to help the department to effectively implement its policy of restricting credit availability to those taxpayers whose suppliers fail to upload invoices for the purchases otherwise claimed by the assessee for availing ITC. “GST taxpayers have been using the current system of GSTR-3B and GSTR-1 returns for three years now and so it was considered appropriate to continue with the same broad system, instead of overhauling it with ‘Sahaj’ and ‘Sugam’ returns proposed earlier,” the source said. Nandan Nilekani, chairman of Infosys had proposed these returns to the GST Council in July, 2018. The GSTN, for which Infosys is the designated IT service provider, released the formats for these return about a year later. However, the source quoted above said as the development of these simplified returns progressed, it was felt by the GoM that the two return formats had become similar to GSTR-1,2,3 system in complexity. These returns were deployed at the time of GST launch in July, 2017 but had to be junked within months for being cumbersome. It was argued by the constituents of GoM that already deployed improvements in the existing system along with changes in the pipeline was a much less disruptive path to strengthen the return system. So far, improvements like allowing Nil return filers (as much as 20% of the total GST taxpayer base of 1.2 crore) through SMS for monthly return, enhancement of GSTR-2A (which provides details of purchases made by a taxpayer and can be cross-referenced with GSTR-1) have been deployed. Along with other proposed improvements and introduction of e-invoicing for taxpayers above Rs 500-crore turnover threshold from October 1, the return-filing system is expected to be more efficient. E-invoicing has been billed as a ‘game changer’ by the tax department as the system would bring about auto-creation of returns in real time for all B2B businesses eventually.
Source: Financial Express
With the UK forging a new trading relationship with the world into 2021 and India establishing itself as a major global player, India is a key priority for trade and investment of the UK government and businesses, the UKIBC Group CEO stressed. The bilateral trade between the two countries stood at USD 15.5 billion in 2019-20 as against USD 16.87 billion in the previous scal. India is an attractive proposition for UK businesses looking for alternatives to China, in view of the prevailing sentiments globally, the UK-India Business Council (UKIBC) has said. In an interview to PTI, UKIBC's rst Indian Group CEO Jayant Krishna said he expects to see growth in UK-India trade as both countries come out of the coronavirus crisis, asserting that UK businesses are very keen to support India's 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' mission. The bilateraltrade between the two countries stood at USD 15.5 billion in 2019-20 as against USD 16.87 billion in the previous scal. "UK and India have started looking at opportunities emanating from the business sentiments worldwide to explore manufacturing supply chain possibilities as alternatives to China," Krishna said. He observed that UK industries have long investments in India across sectors and the country is an increasingly attractive proposition for businesses looking to explore alternate destinations for their global supply chain. "Moreover, UK businesses are and will look to India as an incremental base for manufacturing and research and development," the UKIBC Group CEO said. He said there are great complementarities between India's needs and the UK's oerings and it was very positive to hear that Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted the centrality of sectors such as manufacturing, infrastructure, energy, pharma, space and defence, to global cooperation. "These are all areas ripe for India-UK collaboration in creating 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat', underpinned by both nations' strong track-record in technology and innovation," Krishna said. With the UK forging a new trading relationship with the world into 2021 and India establishing itself as a major global player, India is a key priority for trade and investment of the UK government and businesses, the UKIBC Group CEO stressed. He said the introduction of the UK's new point-based immigration system and Graduate Immigration Route will make it easier for Indians to come to work and study in the UK. "Accordingly, we expect to see growth in UK-India trade as both countries come out of the coronavirus crisis," Krishna said.
Source: Economic Times
Panagariya's comments come at a time when India has introduced certain imports in the restricted list including tyres and TVs to curb imports from China as it aims to become self reliant. “While I am not yet worried about the return of term Atma Nirbhar Bharat, what is worrying is turn in policies three years ago and that have not reversed since,”. Noted economist and India’s rst vice chairman of NITI Aayog Arvind Panagariya said import licences will be a complete violation of TO and has cautioned India to reverse the trend of rising import taris as it will only encourage creation of micro and small enterprises. Panagariya's comments come at a time when India has introduced certain imports in the restricted list including tyres and TVs to curb imports from China as it aims to become self reliant in these sectors. “While I am not yet worried about the return of term Atma Nirbhar Bharat, what is worrying is turn in policies three years ago and that have not reversed since,” Panagaiya said on Saturday at the India@75 summit by the Confederation ofIndian Industry. “Import licence will be a complete violation of the WTO. By raising import taris India will only be encouraging micro and small enterprises. Instead we need to focus on creating large and medium enterprises which will compete in the global market palace,” he said. Commenting on the government's call for a self-reliant or Atma Nirbhar Bharat, Panagariya said import substitution is not a good thing. “Any trade series will show imports and exports grow together. Openness is needed in the global marketplace to compete with the best players,” he said. According to Panagariya, there is confusion among policymakers in India that replacing imports and manufacturing everything domestically will add to India’s GDP. “If you replace all imports then why will you export..it’s like throwing things into harbour and oceans. Your export will go out and hence your GDP will decline automatically,” he said. Advocating the need for a demand boosting stimulus for the country, Panagariya said going forward the government will need a large volume of resources to yet again recapitalise banks. “Down the road if inventories are accumulating it will mean weaker demand. That is when we will need stimulus on the demand side as the economy picks up,” he said. Panagariya is of the view that a lot of rms will come out stressed and there will be a further rise in the non performing assets of banks. “Government will need a large volume of resources to yet again recapitalise banks,” he said. Panagariya said India is missing out on medium and large scale rms big time and if the government continues to give full protection, the rms will remain micro and small and India will not be able to bring down its cost of production. Commenting on the limited capacity with the Centre to get into every sector despite repeated failures, Panagariya said India needs to create multiple strong think-tanks that can advocate strong policy direction based on credible research.
Source: Economic Times
In a notification dated July 27, the central government gave the RBI the powers to administer the FDI regime, which include allowing the central bank to interpret various rules and grant exemptions pertaining to FDI. The change could cut down the processing time for FDI applications to 5-6 weeks compared with 3-4 months currently, market participants say. Foreign investors could experience an improved ease of doing business environment in the coming days and weeks after the government’s rule change gave the Reserve Bank of India greater say in administering all issues relating to foreign….
Source: Economic Times
|
Item |
Price |
Unit |
Fluctuation |
Date |
|
PSF |
793.78 |
USD/Ton |
1.28% |
11-08-2020 |
|
VSF |
1198.56 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
11-08-2020 |
|
ASF |
1695.21 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
11-08-2020 |
|
Polyester POY |
742.82 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
11-08-2020 |
|
Nylon FDY |
1916.26 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
11-08-2020 |
|
40D Spandex |
3990.41 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
11-08-2020 |
|
Nylon POY |
1787.07 |
USD/Ton |
-0.40% |
11-08-2020 |
|
Acrylic Top 3D |
1866.02 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
11-08-2020 |
|
Polyester FDY |
918.66 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
11-08-2020 |
|
Nylon DTY |
2153.10 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
11-08-2020 |
|
Viscose Long Filament |
5167.44 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
11-08-2020 |
|
Polyester DTY |
947.36 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
11-08-2020 |
|
30S Spun Rayon Yarn |
1665.06 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
11-08-2020 |
|
32S Polyester Yarn |
1334.92 |
USD/Ton |
1.09% |
11-08-2020 |
|
45S T/C Yarn |
2160.28 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
11-08-2020 |
|
40S Rayon Yarn |
1837.31 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
11-08-2020 |
|
T/R Yarn 65/35 32S |
1665.06 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
11-08-2020 |
|
45S Polyester Yarn |
1507.17 |
USD/Ton |
0.96% |
11-08-2020 |
|
T/C Yarn 65/35 32S |
2038.27 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
11-08-2020 |
|
10S Denim Fabric |
1.13 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
11-08-2020 |
|
32S Twill Fabric |
0.64 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
11-08-2020 |
|
40S Combed Poplin |
0.93 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
11-08-2020 |
|
30S Rayon Fabric |
0.47 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
11-08-2020 |
|
45S T/C Fabric |
0.65 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
11-08-2020 |
Source: Global Textiles
Note: The above prices are Chinese Price (1 CNY = 0.14354 USD dtd. 11/08/2020). The prices given above are as quoted from Global Textiles.com. SRTEPC is not responsible for the correctness of the same.
The garment and textile industry is one of the key industries in Vietnam with the secondlargest export turnover in the country. In 2019, the industry’s export value contributed to 16 percent of total GDP. In the past five years, the textile industry has continuously grown at an average rate of 17 percent annually. In 2019, Vietnam’s garment and textile industry earned US$39 billion from exports, a year-on-year increase of over 8.3 percent, according to the Vietnam General Statistics Office. Garment manufacturing accounts for the majority of businesses, at 70 percent. Major factors driving the growth of the market are low labor costs and growing textile exports to the EU, the US, Japan, and South Korea.
Industry overview: 3 sub-sectors
Vietnam’s garment and textile industry consist of 3 sub-sectors: upstream sector (fiber production), midstream sector (fabric production and dyeing), and downstream sector (garment manufacturing). Sub-sectors that produce fibers or fabric are mainly used for domestic consumption because of the low quality. Downstream sector of garment manufacturing accounts for around 70 percent of the total apparel and textile sector in Vietnam with Cut-Make-Trim (CMT) models being the main activities. In 2019, CMT accounted for about 65 percent of total exports, while the more advanced business models, like Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and Original Design Manufacturer (ODM) accounted for only 35 percent. The US, Europe, Japan, and South Korea are the main export destinations of Vietnam’s textile and garments products. Although Vietnam has a huge potential for cotton cultivation and production, the textile industry imports most of the cotton inputs. In Vietnam imported up to 89 percent of fabrics, of which, 55 percent were from China, 16 percent from South Korea, 12 percent from Taiwan, and 6 percent from Japan.
Growth factors – increased market access and low labor costs
Increased market access through free trade agreements (FTAs_ and technology are major growth drivers for the garment and textile industry. Vietnam’s bilateral and multilateral FTAs continue to provide Vietnamese manufacturers access to new markets, minimizing the effect of growing trade protectionism. With new FTAs in effect such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and Vietnam-EU FTA (EVFTA), new markets will lead to higher exports and push manufacturers to develop the industry’s supply chain so that they can take full advantage of the preferential tariffs and increase the competitiveness of their products. Further, manufacturing shifts from China to Vietnam due to their labor cost advantage and skilled workers will also help expand the textile and garment industry. Going forward, market access alone will not be enough to generate growth and Vietnamese manufacturers would also need to invest in technology – especially Industry 4.0 technologies – to increase productivity, and quality to remain competitive.
Foreign direct investment
According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), in the first 11 months of 2019, Vietnam attracted FDI capital to the garment and textile industry with a value up to US$1.55 billion for 184 projects. Investments were led by Hong Kong (US$447 million), Singapore (US$370 million), China (US$270 million), and South Korea (US$165 million). Tay Ninh, (US$464 million, 16 projects), Quang Nam (US$107 million, 10 projects), Nghe An (US$210 million, 3 projects), and Thua Thien Hue (213 million, 2 projects) are localities that attracted most FDI in 2019 due to government incentives and their proximity to major economic hubs in the Southern and Central parts of Vietnam. FDI firms made up 70 percent of total garment and textile exports in 2019. In recent years, foreign investment has shifted from mainly CMT activities to more upstream sectors such as fabric productions and dyeing. In 2019, more than 80 percent of FDI in the industry consisted of manufacturing fabrics and raw materials projects. Besides capital, these FDI firms have provided competition pressure and spill-over benefits that stimulate innovation and growth of domestic producers, as well as help scale-up the industry ‘s capacity in the past three decades
COVID-19 and Vietnam’s garment and textile industry
With a supply chain that heavily relies on a few key partners, Vietnam’s garment and textile industry is among the country’s hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Since January, the suspension of the industry’s input production in China has resulted in a raw material shortage in Vietnam. Meanwhile, a crash in demand from the US and European markets has led to order cancellations as well as revenue and job losses for domestic manufacturers. According to the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS), garment and textile exports in the first four months fell 6.6 percent year-on-year to US$10.64 billion. Meanwhile, the total import value was US$6.39 billion, down 8.76 percent compared to the same period last year. Exports of fibers, clothes, and garments fell between 6 to 22 percent in the first four months of this year as compared to the same period of 2019. As per VITAS, 80 percent of garment manufacturers started reducing shifts and rotating workers since March. By June 2020, the estimated loss to the industry was about US$508 million. Despite this severe, yet temporary setback, Vietnam’s garment and textile industry’s fast response and government policy support are reasons for investors to be optimistic about the industry’s future post-pandemic.
Optimistic prospects for the industry’s post-pandemic recovery
Industry response: Shifting production from conventional clothing to personal protective equipment (PPE) Many garment producers in the country have shifted to producing face masks as a solution to cope with suspended orders and take the opportunities from surging demand in both domestic and international markets. By the end of April, Vietnam had exported over 415 million face masks. According to the (MoIT), local manufacturers have a total production capacity of 40 million face masks per day, or about 1.2 billion a month. With full capacity, the entire garment and textile sector can produce 100 million face masks per day, or about 3 billion a month. Government support policies Prior to the pandemic, the government had already centered its support for the textile industry by expanding industrial parks for textiles and stimulating the domestic supporting industries. The plan is to increase the supporting industries contribution to 18 percent of production in the local manufacturing and processing sector by the end of 2020. Local governments are also encouraged to assist firms in research and development activities, technology transfer, and innovation. To mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on businesses, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) has also proposed to extend the list of import tax exemptions for raw materials, supplies, and components for processing and manufacturing export products.
Looking ahead
Although the garment and textile industry is significantly affected by the pandemic, optimistic prospects for fast and strong recovery is possible, given the industry’s response and government’s support policies. Post-pandemic, Vietnam will focus on moving up the value chain and building a national brand image that is competitive and quality driven, according to a MoIT promotion program. In addition, it also needs to diversify its trading partners and reduce raw input import reliance in order to take full advantage of FTAs, such as the EVFTA, with strict rule of origin conditions.
Source: ASEAN Briefing
Say it can substantially hurt textile industry, exporters Textile importers have urged the government to withdraw the 2% regulatory duty imposed on spun yarn, arguing it can substantially hurt the textile industry as well as exporters. Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) Standing Committee on Imports Chairman Khawar Noorani requested Prime Minister Imran Khan to withdraw the regulatory duty on polyester spun yarn in order to protect the textile industry from disaster. “If relief is not provided by the government to deal with the severe economic crisis in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic, we fear that the textile industry will reach the brink of collapse, and traders and industrialists will go bankrupt,” he said in a statement on Thursday. Noorani added that the textile sector relied on imported polyester spun yarn to continue production activities because local manufacturers were unable to meet the demand of industries. Currently, according to him, the local industry meets about 30-35% of total yarn demand of Pakistan while the remaining 65-70% is covered through imports. “Despite this, local yarn manufacturers have created a monopoly and they continue to take full advantage of the lack of government supervision by setting arbitrary prices for yarn,” he said. He regretted that by imposing regulatory duty on yarn import, the government had jeopardised the entire textile sector while local yarn manufacturers continued to benefit. Local manufacturers were taking full advantage of the imposition of taxes on imported raw material, he added. “Textile sector is facing mammoth losses due to exorbitant taxes on the imported raw material,” he said. “While the entire sector has plunged into a severe crisis due to the Covid-19 outbreak, the imposition of regulatory duty on polyester spun yarn will completely destroy the textile sector.” Noorani requested the prime minister to withdraw the regulatory duty on spun yarn in order to save the textile industry from complete devastation. “If textile factories close down due to excessive taxes and high production costs, thousands of workers will lose their jobs,” he cautioned.
Source: The Express Tribune
China's major textile companies reported lower revenues and profits in the first half of this year, official data showed. Revenues of major textile companies shrank 16.4 percent year on year to 1.93 trillion yuan (about 278.07 billion U.S. dollars) from January to June, according to data by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Profits of these companies dropped 19 percent from a year earlier to 73.1 billion yuan. Value-added output of the enterprises went down 6.7 percent year on year, narrowing 9.8 percentage points from the pace of decline in the first quarter, data showed. However, the industrial textiles sector saw robust growth of 57.8 percent in value-added output with a surge in demand for COVID-19 prevention and control supplies in the first half. Major textile companies include those with an annual turnover of at least 20 million yuan
Source: Xinhua
Part of developing omnichannel strategy Welspun USA’s new website is designed a place where retailers and consumers can learn, shop and engage. On the educational side, the site offers Sheets 101 and Towels 101 guides as well as a primer on cotton types, including Egyptian, organic, Indian, Turkish, Supima and American Upland. The Innovations landing page provides digestible information about Welspun’s HygroCotton technology and Wel-Trak traceability solution as well as antiallergy textiles and charcoal technology. “It’s a place where we wanted retailers to get a sense about who Welspun is but also a place where a consumer can ‘learn more’ and click through to marketplaces to shop. It allows us to market directly to the consumer with somewhere for them to go to buy,” said Christopher Mooney, chief marketing and merchandising officer. Links under the Shop tag connect to Welpsun’s licensed Martha Stewart brand collection at Wayfair and the manufacturer’s Wellhome store on Amazon. Wellhome launched in early 2020 with a focus on better goods at higher tickets. Featured items currently include Turkish cotton jacquard beach towels at $49.99 for a set of two and organic cotton bath towels at $42.99 for a six-piece set. “Luckily, we were well into our digital transformation before the pandemic hit,” said Mooney. The launch is part of a larger strategy Welspun is pursuing to develop new omnichannel concepts and merchandising ideas. “We recognize that a website such as ours is a ‘living/breathing’ thing that will evolve in content and configuration as we become more familiar with it, live with it and hear comments,” he said.
Source: Home Textile Today
The Turkish textile and garment industry recently urged the government for financial support, including tax exemptions and debt delays, to help the sector remain competitive during the COVID-19 pandemic. Istanbul Textile and Apparel Exporters Association (ITKIB) chairman Mustafa Gültepe said the industry witnessed a 16.5 per cent year-onyear (YoY) contraction in exports between January and July. The sector initially set a target of a 10 per cent rise in exports for 2020, but had to revise the projection after orders drastically declined in March following the global spread of the virus, Gültepe said. “There was a 27.4 per cent contraction in March and 61.6 per cent in April. In May, exports declined by 48.2 per cent, meaning exports decreased by 26.1 per cent in the first five months compared to last year,” Gültepe was quoted as saying by a Turkish newspaper report. The sector recorded an upward trend in July, however, posting a 25 per cent increase in exports thanks to the gradual reopening of world economies and the rapid recovery in the European Union markets, Gültepe said. The industry is seeking the lifting of customs duties, recently introduced for importing intermediate products like zippers, buttons and fasteners used in textile factories. “Customs duties were increased for fabric and yarn products. We expect the government to revise the additional taxes that negatively affect our competitiveness,” he said, adding that the sector is expecting the value-added tax (VAT), premium payments and loan repayments to be postponed for a year.
Source: Fibre2Fashion
